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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINL\NA 

PRESENTED  BY 

W.  L.  Long 


CB 

J77bl 

v.l 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00025330847 


This  book  may  be  kept  out  one  month  unless  a  recall 
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PAUL  JONES 

Founder  of  the  American  Navy 


PAUL  JONES 


FOUNDER   OF   THE   AMERICAN    NAVY 


a  wtoxv 


BY 

AUGUSTUS   C.   BUELL 


IN   TWO  VOLUMES 

Volume  I 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  .•.-.•.•.•.   1900 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


TROW  DiRecTORy 

PRINTrnQ  AMD  BOOKBINDINQ  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 


(Co 
CHARLES  HENRY  CRAMP 

BUILDER   OF  NAVIES 

THE    AUTHOR    INSCRIBES    THIS 

HISTORY  OF  PAUL  JONES 

FOUNDER   OF  A  NAVY 


PREFACE 

Paul  Jones's  character  and  achievements  entitle 
him  to  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  great  men  of 
the  American  Revolution,  and  yet  the  details  of  his 
extraordinary  career  are  little  known.  His  fame,  in 
the  broad  sense  of  enduring  interest,  ranks  with 
that  of  Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Hamilton, 
Adams,  and  Robert  Morris  ;  and,  in  his  own  partic- 
ular province,  he  stands  absolutely  alone. 

To  the  average  student  of  American  history,  men- 
tion of  our  Revolutionary  Navy  instantly  suggests 
the  name  of  Paul  Jones,  and  no  other.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding such  singular  distinction  as  a  gener- 
ality, but  little  is  correctly  known  in  detail  as  to  the 
actual  life  and  the  real  character  of  the  man.  The 
daily  lives,  the  individual  incidents,  and  the  per- 
sonal characters  of  our  other  very  great  men  in  that 
epoch  are  as  open  books.  These  men  spent  their 
lives  in  our  country,  and  after  they  had  passed  away 
the  materials  for  their  histories  were  left  in  friendly 
hands. 

The  reverse  was  true  of  Paul  Jones.    He  resided 

vii 


PREFACE 

in  this  country  from  the  spring-  of  1773  till  the  fall 
of  1777.  After  that,  though  continuing  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  and  passing  some  part  of 
his  time  here  at  intervals  between  1777  and  1787,  his 
actual  domicile  was  France,  and  from  1787  till  his 
death,  in  1792,  he  did  not  appear  in  this  country  at 
all.  He  left  no  family  to  preserve  with  filial  care 
the  voluminous  and  valuable  records  he  had  pre- 
pared. Some  of  these  records  were  in  the  English 
language ;  others,  and  in  many  respects  the  most 
valuable,  were  in  French.  After  his  death  his  pa- 
pers were  scattered.  Some  of  them  found  their  way 
to  the  United  States,  others  to  Scotland,  and  yet 
others  remained  in  France. 

The  papers  that  found  their  way  to  America  and 
to  Scotland  fell  into  hands  incompetent  to  make  the 
best  historical  use  of  them.  They  were  published 
in  both  cases;  but  in  a  fragmentary  and  disjointed 
manner  ;  and  this  evil  was  aggravated  by  efforts  on 
the  part  of  editors  to  explain  things  they  could  not 
themselves  comprehend,  or  in  some  instances  to  cor- 
rect what  their  ignorance  of  correlative  facts  led 
them  to  consider  errors  in  the  originals.  Thus,  be- 
tween the  division  of  his  papers  and  the  incapacity 
of  his  editors,  Paul  Jones  suffered  as  nearly  as 
could  be  without  throwing  them  into  the  fire  the 
destruction  of  his  literary  relics  in  America  and 
Scotland.      The  papers  that  remained  in   France 

viU 


PREFACE 

fared  better ;  but  as  they  relate  almost  wholly  to 
that  period  of  his  career  which  had  no  direct  con- 
nection with  American  history,  little  use  of  them 
has  been  made  in  our  tongue. 

On  such  a  basis  numerous  biographies  and  in- 
numerable sketches  of  Paul  Jones  have  been  pub- 
lished during  the  last  hundred  years.  Through  all 
of  them  runs  a  vein  of  mystery  which,  in  its  turn, 
has  made  his  name  the  sport  of  novel-writers,  and 
the  prey  of  fiction  for  three  generations.  The  result 
has  been  distorted  views  of  his  character  and  imi^er- 
fect  conceptions  of  his  career.  But  there  was  no 
mystery  about  his  career,  had  the  materials  for 
a  plain  history  of  him  been  intelligently  handled. 
On  the  contrary,  his  life,  as  indicated  by  his  own 
singularly  frank  writings,  and  as  mirrored  in  the 
copious  discussions  of  him  and  his  character  in  the 
papers  of  his  great  contemporaries,  was  free  from 
mystery,  and  in  most  respects  extraordinarily  open 
and  above-board.  It  is  by  no  means  on  his  own 
literary  relics  that  a  real  history  of  Paul  Jones 
must  be  based.  As  is  true  of  every  famous  man, 
the  materials  for  such  a  history  of  him  must  be 
sought  in  the  records  of  his  contemporaries  and 
colleagues,  as  well  as,  or  to  a  greater  extent  than, 
in  his  own. 

The  present  volume  represents  an  effort  to  com- 
bine the  most  important  or  most  interesting  parts 


PREFACE 

of  each  element — his  own  papers  on  the  one  hand, 
and  those  of  his  contemporaries  on  the  other. 
Whether  successful  or  not,  the  effort  has  been  at 
least  earnest. 

The  author  gratefully  acknowledg'es  his  debt  to 
many  admirers  of  the  name  and  fame  of  Paul  Jones 
for  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  this  work. 
Among  them  he  must  make  special  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  indebtedness  to  the  late  Dr.  Francis 
Wharton,  who  first  encouraged  him  to  undertake  it 
many  years  ago,  and  thereafter  gave  him  aid  and 
suggestion  beyond  the  power  of  anyone  else  to 
give  ;  the  Hon.  Ainsworth  R.  Spofford,  Librarian 
of  Congress,  who  has  freely  given  to  the  author 
the  benefit  of  his  marvellous  bibliological  equip- 
ment ;  Andrew  H.  Allen,  Esq.,  Chief  of  the  Rolls 
and  Librarian,  Dex^artment  of  State,  for  copies  of 
manuscripts  and  documents  not  otherwise  accessi- 
ble ;  Professor  J.  Harvard  Biles,  Chair  of  Naval 
Architecture,  University  of  Glasgow,  for  aid  in  se- 
curing historical  documents  from  the  Admiralty 
archives  of  Great  Britain  ;  M.  Adolphe  Letellier, 
C.E.,  MA.,  of  Paris,  for  aid  and  suggestion  in  re- 
search among  the  archives  of  France,  and  for  intro- 
ductions that  gave  access  to  certain  private  collec- 
tions of  rare  books  and  pamphlets ;  the  late  General 
Prince  Wittgenstein,  and  the  families  of  Prince  Kor- 
sakoff, and  the  late  Admiral  Greve  of  the  Russian 


PREFACE 

Navy,  for  assistance  in  research  of  the  history  of 
Paul  Jones  in  the  service  of  that  Empire. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  not  improper  to  add  that  in 
his  work  the  author  has  been  stimulated  by  an  in- 
stinct of  heredity.  His  effort  has  been  to  write  a 
history  of  Paul  Jones  as  truthful  as  a  great-grand 
sire's  services  under  Paul  Jones  were  faithful. 

A.  C.  B. 

Philadelphia,  June  15,  1900. 


zi 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

Sailor  and  Planter 1 


CHAPTER  II 
Founding  the  American  Navy .23 

CHAPTER  III 
Cruises  of  the  Providence  and  the  Alfred  .    .    44 

CHAPTER  IV 
In  Command  of  the  Ranger 69 

CHAPTER  V 
The  French  Alliance 93 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Capture  of  the  Drake 109 

CHAPTER  VII 

An  Appeal  to  King  Louis 141 

ziii 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

On  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 173 


CHAPTER  IX 
The  Battle  with  the  Serapis 202 

CHAPTER  X 
A  Diplomatic  Duel 246 

CHAPTER  XI 
AiMEE  DE  Telison 294 


XIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Portrait  of  Paul  Jones Frontispiece 

From  a  miniature  in  The  Hermitage,  St.  Petersburg. 

FACING 
PAGE 

Map  of  the  British  Isles 110 

Showing  track  charts  of  the  Ranger  and  the  Bon  Homme  Richard. 


Outboard  Profile  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  170 

From  a  print  in  Pierre  Gerard's  "  Memoir  du  Combat.''' 

Plan  of  the  Battle  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
AND  the  Serapis 206 

A  redraft  from  the  original  sketch  by  Paul  Jones. 


ZV 


PAUL    JONES 

FOUNDER    OF    THE   AMERICAN   NAVY 

CHAPTEK  I 
SAILOR  AND   PLANTER 

In  the  middle  of  tlie  eighteentb.  century  an  hon- 
est, hard-working-  Scottish  peasant  lived  near  the 
fishing  hamlet  of  Arbigland,  Parish  of  Kirkbean, 
County  (or,  as  it  was  then  called,  Stewarrty)  of 
Kirkcudbright,  in  the  Western  Lowlands,  on  the 
north  shore  of  Solway  Firth.  His  name  was  John 
Paul  and  his  occupation  was  partly  that  of  gardener 
to  the  Honorable  Robert  Craik,  a  country  squire 
and  member  of  Parliament,  and  partly  that  of  fish- 
erman. 

John  Paul,  like  most  Scotchmen  in  humble  cir- 
cumstances, was  the  father  of  a  large  family.  He 
had  four  sons — William,  Adam,  Robert,  and  John 
Paul,  Jr. — and  three  daughters — Elizabeth,  Janet, 
and  Mary.  William,  the  eldest,  born  about  1730,  was 
adopted  in  1743  by  a  well-to-do  and  childless  Vir- 
ginia planter  named  William  Jones,  a  native  of  Kirk- 
bean Parish  and  a  distant  relative  of  the  Pauls, 
while  he  was  on  a  visit  to  his  old  Scottish  home. 
Vol.  I.— 1  1 


PAUL   JONES 

and  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  adoption  took  tlie  name 
of  William  Paul  Jones.  Of  Adam  and  Eobert  Paul 
no  trace  is  left.  Elizabeth  died  before  reaching  the 
age  of  twenty.  Janet  and  Mary  followed  their 
brother  William  to  Virginia  as  soon  as  they  arrived 
at  maturity.  Mary  married,  first  a  man  named 
Young,  who  died,  and  she  then  became  the  wife  of  a 
planter  named  Loudon.  Janet  became  the  wife  of 
a  watchmaker  in  Norfolk,  Ya.,  a  Mr.  Taylor,  who 
had  emigrated  from  Dumfries,  Scotland,  and  after- 
ward returned  thither. 

The  history  of  these  six  children  of  John  Paul 
does  not  take  up  much  space  and  none  of  them 
would  have  had  even  such  scanty  claim  to  the  notice 
of  mankind  but  for  the  fifth  child  and  youngest  son 
of  the  family,  John  Paul,  Jr.,  who  was  born  on  July 
6.  1747.  His  history  has  been  written  in  three  lan- 
guages— English,  French,  and  Kussian — and  though 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  theme  of  many 
busy  pens,  the  half  of  it  has  not  yet  been  told. 

Of  his  maternal  ancestry  the  only  record  extant  is 
that  left  to  history  by  Edward  Hamilton,  author  of 
the  Aberdeen  life  of  Paul  Jones.  His  mother  was 
Jeanne  Macduff,  daughter  of  an  Argyll  Highlander 
named  Ian  Macduff,*  an  armorer  or  gunsmith  by 

*  Dr.  Robert  Sands,  editor  of  the  Janette  Taylor  Collection  of  the 
Jones  papers,  published  at  New  York  in  1830,  says:  "The  Macduffs 
were  a  respectable  rural  race  in  their  own  district ;  and  some  of  them 
had  been  small  landed  proprietors  in  the  Parish  of  Kirk  beau  for  an  im- 
memorial period." 

But  Edward  Hamilton,  writing  several  years  afterward  (1848)  and 
having  the  Janette  Taylor  Collection  before  him,  personally  investigated 
the  subject  and  established  by  the  parish  records  of  Dumfries,  as  well  as 
by  authentic  neighborhood  lore,  the  Highland  origin  of  Jeanne  Macduff. 
At  the  time  John  Paul  married  her  they  were  both  in  the  employ  of  Mr. 

2 


SAILOR  AND   PLANTER 

trade,  who  migrated  early  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury from  Inverary  to  Dumfries,  in  search  of  a  wider 
market  for  his  skill.  Jeanne  was  a  little  girl  when 
her  father  descended  to  the  Lowlands  ;  but  she  was 
born  a  "  Hieland  lassie."  There  may  have  been  his- 
toric pertinence  in  Hamilton's  terse  suggestion  that 
*'  Little  John  Paul  was  clearly  his  mother's  boy  ;  at 
heart  a  Hielander!"  Hamilton  himself  was  a 
Highlander,  and  after  two  g-enerations  had  softened 
the  asperities  of  the  Kevolutionary  struggle,  he  was, 
perhaps,  glad  to  enroll  Paul  Jones  among*  the  "  He- 
roes of  the  Heather."  But  apart  from  any  such 
racial  predilection,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  there 
were  qualities  in  the  character  of  Paul  Jones  and  in- 
stincts exhibited  in  his  career  that  bespoke  the  fierce 
blood  of  the  Gael  rather  than  the  placid  strain  of 
the  Briton.  The  suddenness  of  temper,  the  swift- 
ness of  hand  that  he  restrained  with  difficulty — if  at 
all ;  the  exultant  valor,  the  scorn  of  peril,  and  the 
deathless  grit  that  made  him  the  conqueror  where 
others  might  have  succumbed,  were  perhaps  the 
heritage,  not  of  the  peaceful  farmer  and  fisher  folk 
from  whom  his  father  sprung,  but  of  his  mother's 
ferocious  ancestors  in  the  Grampian  Hills.  It 
might  be  an  interesting  study  in  comparative  eth- 
nology to  trace  the  savage  instinct  of  foray  that 
mastered  him  more  than  once,  back  to  those  "  plaided 

Craik — John  Paul  as  head  gardener  and  also  game-keeper  and  fish- 
watden ;  and  Jeanne  MacduflF  as  lady's  maid  to  Mrs.  Craik.  The  posi- 
tions of  head  gardener  and  game-keeper  were  frequently  filled  by  the 
same  person  on  estates  of  moderate  size  such  as  that  of  Mr.  Craik.  The 
duties  of  the  "  fish-warden  "  were  simply  to  prevent  "  poaching  "  in  the 
two  or  three  small  salmon  streams  that  flowed  through  Mr.  Craik's  estate 
into  the  Nith. 


PAUL  JONES 

clans  "  wliose  "  early  education  "  Aytoun  sings  in  the 
lay  beginning : 

Come  hither,  Evan  Cameron, 
Come  stand  beside  my  knee  ; 

I  hear  the  river  roaring  down 
Unto  the  wintry  sea. 

It  may  have  been  that,  with  the  thrift  and  shrewd- 
ness of  his  father's  Lowland  race,  there  blended  in 
him  a  dash  of  other  blood,  and  that  the  "  Hieland 
lassie's  boy  "  w^as,  after  all,  more  Celt  than  Saxon. 

Little  John  Paul  enjoyed  a  scanty  childhood.  No 
institution  of  learning  more  pretentious  than  a 
Scotch  parish  school  opened  its  doors  to  him ;  and 
as  soon  as  he  was  strong  enough  to  steer  a  fishing 
yawl  or  haul  a  line,  his  studies  were  ever  and  again 
interrupted  by  the  hard  necessity  of  helping  to  wdn 
a  humble  living  from  the  w^aters  of  the  Sol  way.  Yet 
he  grew  rapidly  in  body  and  in  mind  alike,  so  that 
at  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  as  well  knit,  hardy,  and 
capable  as  boys  usually  are  at  sixteen. 

Even  at  the  early  age  of  twelve,  his  love  of  the  sea, 
his  aptitude  for  its  pursuits,  and  his  disregard  of  its 
perils,  had  become  subjects  of  remark  throughout 
that  sturdy  neighborhood ;  and  for  a  yeav  or  more 
he  had  constantly  besought  his  father  to  let  him  go 
over  to  Whitehaven  and  ship  aboard  some  vessel 
bound  for  the  New  AA^orld,  where  his  brother  William, 
whom,  by  the  way,  he  had  never  yet  seen,  had  already 
found  home  and  fortune. 

Whitehaven  was  then  the  principal  seaport  on  the 
Cumberland  coast  of  England,  on  the  southeast 
shore  of  the  Solway,  and  about  twenty-five  miles 

4 


SAILOR  AND   PLANTER 

from  Arbigland  by  water.  It  was  then  to  the  Ameri- 
can and  West  Indian  trade  what  Liverpool  is  now, 
and  the  principal  commercial  i3ort  on  the  northv/est 
coast  of  England.  Among  the  enterprising  and 
prosperous  ship -owning  merchants  of  Whitehaven 
was  James  Younger,  Esq.,  also  a  Lowland  Scotch- 
man, born  at  Old  Carlaverock  Castle,  on  the  Dum- 
fries shore  of  the  Nith,  a  few  miles  from  Arbigland. 
In  the  summer  of  1759  Mr.  Younger  was  at  Arbigland, 
looking  for  sailors  to  man  one  of  his  ships  about  to 
sail  for  the  Chesapeake.  Late  in  the  afternoon  ono 
day  the  attention  of  the  villagers  was  attracted  to  a 
small  fishing  yawl  beating  up  against  a  stiff  north- 
east squall,  to  gain  the  shelter  of  the  small  tidal 
creek  that  formed  the  boat-harbor  of  the  hamlet. 
Mr.  Younger  did  not  think  she  could  weather  it.  As 
the  little  boat  neared  the  landing-place  Mr.  Younger 
saw  that  her  "  crew  "  consisted  of  a  boy  and  a  man — 
the  boy  steering,  handling  the  sheets,  and  command- 
ing ;  the  man  simply  "  trimming  the  boat "  by  sitting 
on  the  weather-rail.  Among  those  watching  the 
boat  was  old  John  Paul.  He  did  not  seem  alarmed. 
*'That  is  my  boy  John  conning  the  boat,  Mr. 
Younger,"  he  said.  "He  will  fetch  her  in.  This 
isn't  much  of  a  squall  for  him  !  " 

As  soon  as  the  boat  was  alongside  and  made  fast, 
little  John  Paul  was  introduced  by  his  father  to  Mr. 
Younger,  who  congratulated  him  on  his  seamanship 
and  said  that  if  his  father  would  let  him  go  he  would 
ship  him  as  master's  apprentice  in  a  fine  new  vessel 
he  owned,  just  fitting  out  for  a  round  voyage  to  Yir- 
ginia,  the  West  Indies,  and  thence  home.  Between 
this  flattering  offer  and  the  importunities  of  the 


PAUL   JONES 

boy,  old  John  Paul  yielded,  and  little  John  Paul 
went  to  Whitehaven  with  James  Younger,  Esq.,  duly 
bound  shipmaster's  apprentice,  and  fully  destined 
for  the  ocean. 

Such  was  the  sea-birth  and  such  the  Neptune's 
christening-  of  the  Founder  of  a  New  Sea-power — the 
Father  of  the  American  Navy. 

A  few  days  thereafter  the  stout  brig  Friendship, 
of  148  tons,  James  Younger,  owner,  E-ichard  Ben- 
nison,  master,  and  John  Paul,  master's  apprentice, 
sailed  from  Whitehaven,  and  after  an  uneventful 
voyage  of  thirty-two  days,  dropped  anchor  in  the 
Rappahannock  River  near  the  present  site  of  the 
sleepy  old  Virginia  village  of  Urbana. 

The  trading  voyages  of  those  days  were  leisurely 
affairs ;  the  triangular  round-trip  from  England  to 
the  North  American  Colonies,  thence  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  thence  back  to  England,  usually  lasted 
about  six  months,  of  which  perhaps  three  months 
were  spent  at  sea  and  the  other  three  in  various 
ports  discharging  and  taking  on  cargo  and  conduct- 
ing barter  or  exchange.  The  anchorage  of  the 
Friendship  was  only  a  short  distance  down  the 
Rappahannock  from  the  landing-place  of  William 
Jones's  plantation,  and,  as  part  of  the  ship's  business 
was  with  that  worthy  planter,  little  John  Paul  found 
abundant  opportunity  to  visit  ashore  as  the  guest  of 
his  eldest  brother,  William  Paul  Jones,  then  a  man 
of  thirty,  married,  and  managing  the  plantation, 
flour-mill,  and  trade  of  his  adopted  father,  William 
Jones.  The  old  Scottish-American  planter  took  a 
great  fancy  to  little  John  Paul,  and  wished  to  adopt 
him  also,  offering  to  get  him  released  from  his  in- 

9 


SAILOR   AND   PLANTER 

dentures  to  Mr.  Younger.  But  the  boy  preferred  the 
sea-career  he  had  chosen,  and  so,  when  the  business 
of  the  Rappahannock  was  done,  he  sailed  away  in 
the  Friendship  for  Tobago  and  Barbados,  whence 
he  returned  to  Whitehaven  in  the  early  spring  of 
1760. 

For  four  years  John  Paul  continued  in  the  service 
of  Mr.  Younger.  He  advanced  so  rapidly  in  sea- 
faring skill  and  general  attainments  that  in  1764  he 
made  a  round  voyage  as  second  mate,  and  the  next 
year  was  first  mate.  In  1766  Mr.  Younger  retired 
from  the  shipping  business,  and  released  John  Paul 
from  his  indentures.  Some  writers  of  John  Paul's 
history  say  that  Mr.  Younger  failed  in  business  at 
this  time.  But  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  to  Par- 
liament in  1766,  and  held  the  seat  for  that  borough 
until  1771,  would  not  seem  to  prove  the  truth  of  that 
statement.  At  any  rate,  when  he  released  John  Paul 
from  indenture,  Mr.  Younger  gave  to  him  for  a  nom- 
inal consideration  a  sixth  interest  in  a  ship  called 
King  George's  Packet,  and  sold  two-sixths  to  her 
master,  Mr.  Denbigh. 

In  this  ship  John  Paul  went  again  to  the  West 
Indies  in  1766.  Trade  with  the  west  coast  of  Eng- 
land was  slack  that  year.  So  Captain  Denbigh  and 
his  first  mate,  John  Paul,  resolved  to  try  the  traffic 
with  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  This  was  nothing 
else  than  the  slave-trade,  but  at  that  time  it  was  con- 
sidered legitimate  business,  and  it  formed  the  basis 
of  fortunes  still  extant  by  heredity  in  the  hands  of 
the  most  distinguished  modern  philanthropists  of 
Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia. 

Captain  Denbigh  and  John  Paul  made  two  voy- 

7 


PAUL   JONES 

ag-es  in  the  King  George  between  Jamaica  and 
the  Guinea  coast,  with  fair  profit.  On  arriving  at 
Kingston,  Jamaica,  at  the  end  of  the  second  slaving 
voyage  in  1767,  John  Paul  declined  to  undertake  a 
third  one,  and  Captain  Denbigh  bought  his  sixth 
interest  in  the  ship.  Though  not  yet  twenty-one 
years  old,  John  Paul  now  found  himself  the  pos- 
sessor of  about  one  thousand  guineas  (say,  $5,000) 
in  gold — then  fully  equal  in  purchasing  power  to 
three  times  that  sum  now — as  the  result  of  eight 
years'  constant  seafaring.  He  decided  to  visit  his 
brother  William,  in  Virginia,  and  to  go  thence  home 
with  a  view  to  getting  a  command  of  his  own. 

Unable  to  find  a  ship  bound  for  England  by  way 
of  the  Chesapeake,  he  took  passage  in  the  White- 
haven brig  John  o'  Gaunt,  Captain  Macadam.  Soon 
after  clearing  the  Windward  Islands  yellow  fever 
broke  out  on  board,  and  the  captain,  mate,  and  all 
but  five  of  the  crew  died  within  a  few  days.  John 
Paul  and  the  five  surviving  sailors  proved  to  be 
*'  immunes  "  from  yellow  fever,  and  they  navigated 
the  John  o'  Gaunt  safely  to  Whitehaven  with  her 
valuable  cargo,  Paul  in  command. 

On  arrival  at  Whitehaven  the  owners  of  the  ship 
gave  to  John  Paul  and  his  five  faithful  sailors  a 
ten-x)er-cent.  share  in  the  cargo  for  what  was  then 
termed  *'  summar.y  salvage."  These  owners  were 
Donald  Currie,  Beck  &  Co.,  then  the  principal  mer- 
chant ship-owners  of  Whitehaven.  They  had  a  new, 
full-rigged  ship,  about  ready  to  sail  on  a  round 
voyage  to  the  West  Indies,  the  American  coast,  and 
home.  They  offered  the  command  of  this  vessel  to 
Captain  Paul,  who  was  also  made  supercargo,  and 

8 


SAILOR   AND   PLANTER 

they  g-ave  him  a  *'  lay  "  of  ten  per  cent,  on  the  net 
profits  of  the  round  Yoyeige  without  investing  a  shil- 
ling- of  his  own.  This  was  in  October,  1768.  He 
commanded  this  ship — the  John — for  three  round 
voyages,  visiting-  his  brother  William  Paul  Jones 
at  Rappahannock  twice  during  the  time.  Old  Wil- 
liam Jones  had  died  in  1760,  and  by  the  terms  of  his 
will  had  made  John  Paul  the  residuary  legatee  of  his 
brother  in  case  the  latter  should  die  without  issue  ; 
provided  that  John  Paul  would  assume,  as  his 
brother  had  done,  the  patronymic  of  Jones.  On  his 
visit  to  Eappahannock  in  1769,  Captain  John  Paul 
legally  qualified  under  the  provisions  of  the  will  of 
Willam  Jones  by  recording  his  assent  to  its  require- 
ments in  due  form.  He  continued  in  the  service  of 
CuiTie,  Beck  &  Co.  in  the  meantime  forming  a  con- 
nection with  the  firm  of  Archibald  Stewart  &  Co.,  of 
Tobago,  the  other  junior  partners  being  Mr.  Seaforth 
Young  and  Captain  John  Cleaveland. 

His  third  voyage  in  the  John  involved  Captain 
Paul  in  serious  trouble.  On  the  outward  voyage  the 
crew  was  reduced  by  fever  to  five  or  six  hands.  One 
of  these,  a  huge  Jamaica  mulatto  named  Munro — or 
"  Mungo  " — Maxwell,  became  mutinous,  and  Captain 
Paul,  being  the  only  officer  able  to  keep  the  deck, 
found  it  necessary  to  subdue  him  with  a  belaying- 
pin.  Maxwell  died  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  ship 
at  Tobago,  though  not  until  he  had  shipped  on 
another  vessel.  Captain  Paul  surrendered  to  the 
authorities,  made  a  full  statement,  and  asked  an  im- 
mediate trial.  He  was  exonerated  by  the  Judge 
Surrogate  of  the  Yice-Admiralty  Court  of  Tobago, 
the  Honorable  James  Simpson,  after  the  usual  ex- 

9 


PAUL    JONES 

amination  of  the  accused  and  witnesses,  and  the  de- 
cision of  Judg-e  Simpson  was  approved  and  certi- 
fied by  the  Honorable  William  Young,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  colony. 

However,  upon  his  return  to  Whitehaven,  notwith- 
standing this  exoneration.  Captain  Paul  was  i3ut  on 
trial  for  murder  on  the  high  seas.  This  prosecution 
seems  to  have  had  some  malice  behind  it,  and  gave 
the  young  Captain  considerable  trouble.  He  was  fi- 
nally acquitted  on  two  grounds :  first,  that  there  was  a 
reasonable  doubt  as  to  whether  the  death  of  Maxwell 
was  actually  caused  by  the  injuries  he  received  from 
the  hands  of  Captain  Paul ;  and,  second,  if  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  board  another  ship,  the  Barce- 
lona packet,  about  three  weeks  after  he  received  the 
injuries,  was  due  to  those  injuries,  it  had  been 
shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  that  Maxwell 
was  mutinous  on  the  high  seas,  under  circumstances 
calculated  to  lodge  plenary  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  master  of  the  vessel ;  and  that,  therefore,  the 
homicide  was  justifiable  because  it  was  the  only 
means  of  maintaining  the  discipline  necessary  for 
the  safety  of  the  ship  and  crew.  Captain  Paul  was 
a  witness  in  his  own  defence.  In  the  course  of  his 
examination  the  King's  counsel  ( prosecuting  attor- 
ney) asked  him  : 

"  Captain  Paul,  are  you,  in  conscience,  satisfied 
that  you  used  no  more  force  than  was  necessary  to 
preserve  discipline  in  your  ship  ?  " 

To  which  he  answered :  "  May  it  please  the  most 
Honorable  Court,  sir,  I  would  say  that  it  became 
necessary  to  strike  the  mutinous  sailor.  Maxwell. 
"WTienever  it  becomes  necessary  for  a  commanding 

10 


SAILOR   AND   PLANTER 

officer  to  strike  a  seaman,  it  is  also  necessary  to 
strike  with  a  weapon.  I  may  say  that  the  necessity 
to  strike  carries  with  it  the  necessity  to  kill  or  to 
completely  disable  the  mutineer.  I  had  two  brace 
of  loaded  pistols  in  my  belt,  and  could  easily  have 
shot  him.  I  struck  with  a  belaying-pin  in  prefer- 
ence, because  I  hoped  that  I  might  subdue  him 
without  killing"  him.  But  the  result  proved  other- 
wise. I  trust  that  the  Honorable  Court  and  the 
jury  will  take  due  account  of  the  fact  that,  though 
amply  provided  with  pistols  throwing  ounce  balls, 
necessarily  fatal  weapons,  I  used  a  belaying-pin, 
which,  though  a  dangerous,  is  not  necessarily  a  fatal, 
weapon." 

Captain  Paul  was  acquitted.  Currie,  Beck  &  Co. 
then  offered  him  command  of  a  new  ship,  one  of  the 
largest  hailing  from  Whitehaven,  ready  to  fit  out  for 
a  voyage  to  North  American  and  "West  Indian  ports. 
But  before  she  began  to  take  in  cargo,  the  East 
India  Company  chartered  her  as  an  "  extra  ship  "  to 
take  out  stores,  passengers,  and  recruits  for  regi- 
ments serving  in  India.  This  ship  was  called  the 
Grantley  or  Grantully  Castle,  of  420  tons  burden. 
Captain  Paul  took  her  around  from  Whitehaven  to 
Plymouth,  where  the  stores,  passengers,  and  recruits 
were  taken  on  board,  and  she  sailed  for  India,  ac- 
cording to  the  records  of  that  time,  early  in  1771 
with  several  other  East  India  ships  under  convoy. 

The  round  voyage  consumed  nearly  a  year,  the 
ship  returning  to  Whitehaven  early  in  1772 — prob- 
ably in  March  or  April.  The  records  of  this  voy- 
age are  meagre.  Captain  Paul  refers  to  it  in  his 
writings  at  the  time  only  to  express  wonder  that 

11 


PAUL   JOXES 

"  the  King"  leaves  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Dutch,  when  its  situation  as  a  command- 
ing station  on  our  route  to  India  is  of  such  prime 
importance."  And  he  also  is  "  sur^orised  that  the 
French  have  been  let  keep  so  long  the  Isles  of 
France  and  of  Bourbon,  lying  as  they  do  like  lions 
in  our  path  to  our  Eastern  possessions  whenever  we 
happen  to  be  at  war  with  France." 

From  this  it  would  appear  that  Captain  Paul  was 
a  zealous  and  loyal  subject  of  His  Britannic  Majesty 
in  1771-72.  After  his  return  to  Whitehaven,  early  in 
1772,  his  ship  was  temporarily  laid  uj^  for  overhaul, 
as  was  usual  after  East  India  voyages,  and  Captain 
Paul  then  took  command  of  another  ship,  bound  for 
the  West  Indies  and  American  ports. 

During  all  these  years  Captain  Paul  had  been  an 
indefatigable  student  not  only  of  the  problems  of  his 
own  profession,  but  of  the  French  language,  which 
he  had  mastered,  and  of  Spanish,  in  which  he  had 
become  fairly  proficient.  He  had  also  made  himself 
conversant  with  the  naval  history  and  tactical  the- 
ories of  his  time,  so  that  by  1773,  when  he  reached 
his  twenty -seventh  year,  there  was  probably  no  reg- 
ular naval  ofiicer  of  his  age  in  the  British  service 
better  educated  or  more  accomplished  in  profes- 
sional acquirements  than  he.  More  than  half  of  his 
life,  young  as  he  was,  had  been  spent  at  sea;  and 
though  only  twenty-seven  years  old,  he  had  for  ten 
years  held  positions  of  command,  from  mate  of  a 
West  Indiaman  to  captain  of  an  East  Indiaman. 

The  course  of  study  he  had  pursued  and  the 
knowledge  he  had  acquired  were  outside  the  ordi- 
nary sphere  of  a  merchant  caiotain  in  those  times. 

10 


SAILOK   AND    PLANTEIl 

Most  men  of  his  class  then  were  content  to  be  capa- 
ble navigators,  and,  for  the  rest,  aspired  to  little 
more  than  holding  the  confidence  of  their  owners 
and  having-  a  good  time  ashore  at  each  end  of  a  voy- 
age. But  this  narrow  horizon  did  not  satisfy  the 
restless  mind  of  John  Paul.  He  was  by  no  means 
ascetic  in  tastes,  or  gloomy  in  temperament.  But 
he  had  no  liking  for  revelry,  and  nothing  bored  him 
so  much  as  those  jolly  coffee-house  dinners  or  tavern 
drinking-bouts  that  formed  the  staple  amusement 
or  recreation  ashore  of  the  typical  merchant  cap- 
tains of  his  time. 

When  in  port  he  invariably  sought  the  society 
into  which  the  merchants  and  bankers  with  whom 
he  dealt  could  introduce  him  ;  where  his  rich  fund 
of  observation  could  be  drawn  upon  to  interest  men 
and  women  of  intellect,  and  where  he  could  figure, 
as  was  always  his  ardent  ambition,  in  the  character 
of  a  cultured  man  of  the  world.  To  this  aspiration 
his  martial  figure,  classically  handsome  face,  and 
courtly  bearing  always  lent  resistless  aid  ;  and  his 
active  mind,  richly  stored  with  anecdote  and  expe- 
rience, which  an  almost  miraculous  memory  and  a 
supreme  command  of  language  kept  ever  at  his 
tongue's  end,  made  him  a  man  of  mark  in  every 
Colonial  port  where  his  ship  anchored.  The  result 
was  that  while  the  average  of  captains  ashore  would 
be  swapping  yarns  in  coffee-houses  or  carousing  in 
taverns,  Captain  Paul  would  be  passing  his  even- 
ings in  port  at  dinner  with  the  elite  of  Colonial  so- 
ciety, from  New  York  all  the  way  down  the  coast 
to  Charleston,  and  thence  to  all  the  principal  towns 
in  the  British  Antilles  from  Barbados  to  Jamaica. 

13 


PAUL    JONES 

During  this  period  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
such  men  as  the  Liyingstons  of  New  York,  the  Mor- 
rises of  Philadelphia,  the  Hursts,  Granbys,  Ayletts, 
Lees,  Parkes,  and  Washingtons  of  tidewater  Vir- 
ginia, Hewes  of  Edenton,  N.  C,  the  Pinckneys,  Lau- 
renses,  and  Rutledges  of  Charleston — all  men  then 
on  the  verge  of  the  most  colossal  destinies  known 
to  human  annals. 

If,  in  all  this  seeking  the  society  of  the  people  of 
prestige  and  power,  or  in  all  this  study  and  self- 
training  so  far  beyond  the  average  of  his  class,  John 
Paul  foresaw  in  dream  or  in  fancy  the  glories  the 
near  future  had  in  store,  he  has  left  to  us  no  hint  of 
it.  To  ascribe  such  foresight  to  him  would  be  to 
assume  that  he  was  almost  superhuman.  The  prob- 
ability is  that  he  foresaw  no  more  than  other  men  of 
equal  opportunities  do,  and  that  his  choice  of  society 
and  studies  was  simply  the  dictate  of  a  proud  nature, 
a  clean  mind,  and  a  lofty  ambition  in  the  broadest 
sense,  and  without  special  ulterior  design. 

Lord  Nelson  said :  "  A  naval  officer,  unlike  a  mil- 
itary commander,  can  have  no  fixed  plans.  He  must 
always  be  ready  for  the  chance.  It  may  come  to- 
morrow, or  next  week,  or  next  year,  or  never ;  but 
he  must  be  alvjays  ready  I " 

This  instinct  of  destiny  may  have  lurked  in  the 
recesses  of  Captain  Paul's  mind,  and  perhaps  he  was 
unconscious  of  its  influence  upon  him  ;  but  he  was 
surely  "ready  for  the  chance"  when  it  came  to  him. 

The  brig  Two  Friends  proved  to  be  the  last  mer- 
chant command  of  Captain  John  Paul.  She  sailed 
from  Whitehaven  early  in  November,  1772,  bound 
first  for  Lisbon,  thence  for  the  Madeira  Islands, 

14 


SAILOR   AND   PLANTER 

thence  for  Tobago,  thence  for  the  Chesapeake,  and 
thence  home.  It  must  have  been  a  lucky  voyage, 
because  he  made  all  his  ports  of  call,  transacted  all 
necessary  business  at  each  port,  and  anchored  in  the 
reach  of  the  Rappahannock  just  below  his  brother's 
plantation  the  17th  of  April,  1773  ;  only  a  little  over 
five  months  out  of  Whitehaven  in  a  quite  circuitous 
trip.  He  found  his  brother  dying  of  Avhat  was  then 
known  to  pathology  as  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  or 
lung  fever.     In  our  time  it  is  called  pneumonia. 

The  legend  is  that  William  Paul  Jones  was  still 
breathing  when  his  brother  John  Paul  reached  his 
bedside,  but  he  never  rallied  enough  to  recognize 
him.  In  a  few  hours  he  died.  Then,  through  the 
succession  established  by  the  will  of  William  Jones, 
John  Paul  became  John  Paul  Jones,  sinking  his 
old  name  that  he  had  already  made  well  known  and 
universally  respected,  in  a  new  name  that  he  was 
soon  to  bequeath  in  a  blaze  of  glory  unto  all  immor- 
tality. 

The  voyage  of  the  Two  Friends,  so  far  as  con- 
cerned trading,  was  now  over.  In  the  Rappahan- 
nock she  had  only  to  take  on  board  some  bales  of 
*'  winter-cured  tobacco-leaf "  and  a  quantity  of  furs 
and  peltries.  This  was  soon  done.  Then  Captain 
John  Paul  Jones  turned  the  command  over  to  his 
first  mate,  Mr.  Lawrence  Edgar,  and  settled  down  to 
the  idyllic  life  of  a  Virginia  planter.  As  Colonial 
plantations  were  then,  in  tidewater  Virginia,  the 
Jones  estate  was  not  large.  A  quaint  old  Colonial 
record,  dated  in  the  year  1761,  on  transfer  by  will, 
describes  it  as  containing  "about  3,000  acres  of 
prime  land,  bordering  for  twelve  furlongs  on  the 

15 


PAUL   JONES 

riglit  bank  of  the  Rappahannock,  running-  back 
southward  three  miles,  1,000  acres  cleared  and  under 
plough  or  grass,  2,000  acres  strong,  first-growth 
timber,  grist-mill  with  flour-cloth  and  fans,  turned 
by  water  power ;  mansion,  overseer's  house,  negro 
quarters,  stables,  tobacco-houses,  threshing-floor, 
river  wharf,  one  sloop  of  20  tons,  thirty  negroes  *  of 
all  ages  (18  adults),  20  horses  and  colts,  80  neat- 
cattle  and  calves,  sundry  sheep  and  swine,  and  all 
necessary  means  of  tilling  the  soil." 

Into  such  a  fortune  John  Paul  passed  in  one  day, 
and  exchanged  the  deck  of  a  merchant  brig  for  the 
broad  acres  of  a  Virginia  plantation  in  the  last  days 
of  the  Colonial  regime ;  days  that,  though  the  last, 
were  the  brightest,  as  sunset  is  always  brighter  than 
high  noon. 

Few  pictures  of  the  real  Colonial  life  have  been 
handed  down  to  us.  No  such  social  conditions  have 
ever  existed  anywhere  else,  and  none  such  can  ever 
exist  anywhere  again.  It  was  a  blending  of  the 
wilderness  and  the  garden,  a  union  of  aristocracy 
and  democracy,  an  amicable  agreement  between 
freedom  and  slavery  never  known  before  and  never 
to  be  known  again.  It  was  a  long,  thin  fringe  of 
opulent  civilization  whose  front  doors  looked  out 
upon  a  trackless  ocean  and  upon  whose  back  doors 
frowned  a  savage  forest.     And  yet  that  long,  thin 

*  The  articles  of  trust  which  the  Frazier  Brothers  executed  in  May, 
1775,  when  Jones  placed  his  property  in  their  hands  ad  interim,  give  the 
number  of  negroes  on  the  plantation  as  twenty-two,  of  whom  eight  were 
under  thirteen  years  of  age.  This  decrease  from  the  number  stated  in 
1761  was  due  to  the  fact  that  William  Paul  Jones  had  manumitted  sev- 
eral slaves  during  his  possession  of  the  estate,  and  had  never  bought  any 
new  ones. 

16 


SAILOE   AND    TLANTEK 

fring-e  of  civilization,  with  the  devil  on  one  side  of  it 
and  the  deep  sea  on  the  other,  bred  and  nurtured  the 
race  of  men  and  women  that  won  for  us  our  inde- 
pendence. With  such  a  race  and  v/ith  such  destinies 
Paul  Jones  cast  his  lot  and  linked  his  fortunes  in 
1773. 

Of  his  life  for  two  years  as  a  Yirginia  planter  but 
little  record  remains,  and  that  is  nearly  all  embraced 
in  a  few  quaint  paragraphs  in  his  letters  to  Joseph 
Hewes.  His  brother,  William  Paul  Jones,  had 
served  with  Major  George  Washington's  battalion 
of  Virginia  Provincials  in  Braddock's  fatal  expedi- 
tion. Among  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  Braddock's 
defeat  had  been  a  Highland  soldier  of  Dunbar's 
British  Kegiment,  who,  though  badly  wounded  in 
the  leg  by  an  Indian  bullet,  still  managed  to  keep 
on  his  feet.  William  Paul  Jones  took  care  of  this 
poor  Highlander  and  brought  him  to  his  plantation, 
where  he  stayed  in  the  capacity  of  "  land-stev/ard  " 
or  "head-farmer."  The  tough  Highlander  survived 
his  rescuer,  and  when  Paul  Jones  succeeded  to  the 
estate  and  the  name,  he  found  old  Duncan  Macbean 
in  actual  control.  It  did  not  take  Paul  Jones  long 
to  perceive  that  the  perfect  order  and  complete  effi- 
ciency which  he  found  prevailing  in  every  part  of  the 
establishment  were  due  to  the  vigilance  and  fidelity 
of  old  Duncan  Macbean.  He  left  his  Scotch  over- 
seer as  he  had  found  him,  master  of  the  plantation 
and  all  its  belongings. 

This  arrangement  left  Jones  free  to  indulge  his 

social  propensities  at  will.     He  was  a  bachelor,  only 

twenty -eight  years  old,  and,  though  he  kept  up  the 

full  state  of  the  hospitable  old  Jones  mansion,  there 

Vol.  I.— 3  17 


PAUL   JONES 

were  no  women  in  the  house  except  colored  servants, 
and  his  table  had  no  hostess.  The  g:ood  Colonial 
dames  of  the  neighborhood  rallied  to  his  rescue. 
By  turns  they  presided  at  his  dinners  and  chap- 
eroned the  young  people  at  his  boating  parties  in 
his  big  sloop.  Naturally,  they  exercised  their  in- 
genuity to  make  a  match  for  him.  But,  acute  as  the 
Colonial  dames  may  have  been,  and  charming  as 
their  daughters  unquestionably  were,  there  is  no 
record  that  the  heart  of  the  sailor-planter  was  ever 
touched  by  one  or  by  the  other.  There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  for  some  time  he  showed  partiality  for  the 
society  of  Miss  Betty  Parke,  a  relative  of  the  lady 
known  to  fame  as  Martha  Washington ;  but  Miss 
Parke  became  Mrs.  Tyler  in  1775,  while  Paul  Jones 
remained  single  and  free. 

Events  thickened  about  that  time.  The  years  of 
grace  1773  and  1774  saw  the  gathering  of  the  clouds 
from  which  flashed  the  lightning  of  Bunker  Hill 
and  rolled  the  thunder  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. Like  any  other  man  trained  to  read  the 
omens  of  the  ocean-sky,  Paul  Jones  watched  the 
gathering  of  the  clouds  and  listened  for  the  pre- 
monitory sounds  of  the  storm  to  come. 

Freed  by  the  fidelity  of  old  Duncan  Macbean  from 
the  drudgery  of  plantation  management,  he  spent 
all  his  time  in  study  and  observation.  He  went  to 
Williamsburg  and  attended  the  sessions  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  where  he  heard  the  eloquence 
of  Patrick  Henry  and  the  stately  logic  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  He  journeyed  in  November,  1774,  to 
Edenton,to  commune  with  his  friend  Joseph  Hewes 
and  to  assure  him  that,  whenever  the  hour  might 

18 


SAILOR  AND   PLANTER 

strike,  they  could  all   know  where  to    find  Paul 
Jones. 

Eeturning  from  E  dent  on  by  way  of  Norfolk  in 
December,  1774,  Jones  stopped  at  the  latter  town  to 
visit  friends.  During  his  stay  he  attended  a  public 
ball  at  which  were  also  present  several  officers  be- 
longing to  a  British  sloop-of-war  of  eighteen  guns, 
then  lying  in  the  harbor.  In  a  letter  to  Joseph 
Hewes,  written  the  day  after  the  event,  Jones  says : 

.  .  .  The  insolence  of  these  young  officers,  in  par- 
ticular when  they  had  gotten  somewhat  in  their  cups,  was 
intolerable,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  they  repre- 
sented the  feeling  of  their  service  generally.  As  you  may 
hear  imperfect  versions  of  an  affair  brought  on  by  the  inso- 
lence of  one  of  them,  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  relating  it : 
In  the  course  of  a  debate,  somewhat  heated,  concerning  the 
state  of  affairs,  a  lieutenant  of  the  sloop-of-war,  Parker  by 
name,  declared  that  in  case  of  a  revolt  or  insurrection  it 
would  be  easily  suppressed,  if  the  courage  of  the  Colonial 
men  was  on  a  par  with  the  virtue  of  the  Colonial  women  ! 

I  at  once  knocked  Mr.  Parker  down,  whereupon  his  com- 
panions seized  him  and  all  hurried  from  the  scene,  going 
aboard  their  ship.  Expecting,  naturally,  that  the  affair 
would  receive  further  attention,  I  requested  Mr.  Gran- 
ville Hurst,  whom  you  know,  to  act  for  me  ;  suggesting 
only  that  a  demand  for  satisfaction  should  be  favorably 
considered  and  that  he  should  propose  pistols  at  ten 
paces  ;  place  of  meeting,  Craney  Island  ;  time,  at  the  con- 
venience of  the  other  side.* 

*  Recent  biographers,  notably  Mr.  Abbott,  have  endeavored  to  create 
the  impression  that  Paul  Jones  was  opposed  to  the  practice  of  duelling. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  amiable  intentions  of  these  writers  in  the 
light  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  their  statements,  if 
true,  would  place  Jones  in  a  sorry  light  with  respect  to  any  part  of  the 

19 


PAUL   JONES 

To  my  infinite  surprise  no  demand  came,  but  this  morn- 
ing, on  the  ebb  tide,  the  sloop-of-war  got  under  way  and 
sailed,  it  is  said,  for  Charleston.  Trusting  that  you  will 
approve  my  conduct  and  that  you  will  not  be  misled  by 
any  contrary  versions  that  may  reach  you,  I  remain,  etc. 

This  affair  soon  found  its  way  into  the  Colonial 
newspapers  and  was  "vdewed  as  an  indication  of  a 
grave  state  of  things.  While  there  had  been  much 
bitter  talk,  this  was  the  first  actual  collision  that 
had  occurred  on  the  soil  of  Yirginia  between  a 
Colonist  of  high  social  rank  and  an  officer  wearing 
the  King's  uniform.  It  added  no  little  fuel  to  the 
flame.  It  was  said  the  reason  why  Lieutenant 
Parker  did  not  demand  satisfaction  was  that  none 
of  his  brother  officers  would  act  for  him,  holding 
that  his  language  was  brutal  and  his  chastisement 
deserved.  It  was  even  said  that  he  was  forced  to 
resign.  But  this  cannot  be  true,  because  he  was 
present  at  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Moultrie  not 
long  afterward  by  the  British  squadron  under  Sir 
Peter  Parker,  his  relative,  and  was  severely  wounded 
in  that  memorable  action. 

So  far  as  Paul  Jones  was  concerned,  he  seems  to 
have  regarded  it  as  a  trivial  affair,  and  never  re- 
ferred to  it  except  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Hewes  ;  and 

eighteenth  century.  All  gentlemen,  and  particularly  all  naval  officers, 
recognized  the  code  in  those  tiroes.  Jones  was  not  only  no  exception, 
but,  if  anything,  was  inclined  to  the  other  extreme.  The  fact  that  he 
never  fought  a  duel  was  wholly  the  fault  of  the  other  side  in  the  quarrel. 
On  several  occasions  he  gave  several  men  the  most  ample  opportunity  of 
single  combat.  In  a  word,  Paul  Jones  was  any  kind  of  a  fightmg  man  ; 
and  he  was  as  many  kinds  of  a  fighting  man  as  could  be  joined  in  one 
person.  His  skill  with  the  pistol  m  single  combat  or  any  other  kind  was 
proverbial. 

20 


SAILOR   AND   PLANTER 

his  aim  in  that  letter  was  clearly  nothing"  but  to  pre- 
vent Mr.  Hewes  from  being*  misinformed  as  to  his 
conduct.  But  it  was  enthusiastically  approved  by 
the  high-spirited  Colonial  dames  and  their  daugh^ 
ters,  who  saw  in  the  young-  sailor-planter  of  the 
Rappahannock  a  chivalric  knight,  ready  to  resent 
aspersion  upon  their  fair  names  at  the  muzzle  of  a 
duelling-pistol. 

Soon  after  this  affair  Jones  returned  to  his  plan- 
tation, where  he  passed  the  winter,  excepting-  occa- 
sional trips  to  Williamsburg  to  keep  in  touch  with 
the  political  leaders  of  the  Colonj^  During  this 
winter  he  became  acquainted  with  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son and  also  with  Philip  Livingston,  of  New  York, 
who  visited  Virginia  to  confer  with  Washington, 
Jefferson,  and  the  Lees  on  the  situation.  In  one  of 
his  journals — that  of  1782 — Jones  says : 

At  this  time  [January,  1775]  outbreak  of  hostilities  was 
believed  to  be  certain.  Colonel  Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  Mr.  Livingston  agreed  that  it  would  be  better  to  post- 
pone the  open  rupture  if  possible  to  the  next  year,  that  the 
widely  scattered  Colonies  mi^rlit  have  opportunity  to  arrive 
at  a  more  complete  concert  than  had  been  reached  up  to 
that  time.  But  they  also  agreed  that  the  disposition  in 
Boston  and  the  other  New  England  Colonies  was  to  force 
the  issue,  and  in  that  frame  of  mind  they  were  likely  to 
bring  on  a  clash  of  arms  as  soon  as  the  snow  was  ofl*  the 
ground. 

I  regretted  much  that  in  all  my  sailings  to  Colonial 
ports  I  had  never  once  touched  at  Boston,  and  so  had  no 
acquaintance  with  its  people  except  as  I  had  met  them 
trading  in  the  AVest  Indies  and  elsewhere.  But  the  other 
gentlemen  assured  me  that,  though  of  Puritan  stock  and 
slow  to  anger,  the  New  England  Colonists  could  not  be 

21 


PAUL   JONES 

appeased  when  once  roused,  which  was  their  condition  at 
this  time.  They  all  expected  the  first  blow  to  fall  in  or 
near  Boston,  and  were  sure  that  it  could  not  be  long  de- 
layed. Mr.  Livingston  had  recently  been  at  Boston,  and 
his  reports  of  conferences  he  had  with  the  Adamses,  Mr. 
Otis,  Dr.  Warren  and  others  were  of  the  utmost  gravity. 
Among  the  things  he  said  was  that  open  and  armed  re- 
sistance to  the  King's  authority  would  have  been  offered 
some  time  before  had  the  New  England  people  been  as  sure 
as  they  now  were  that  the  Middle  and  Southern  Colonies 
would  support  them.  Colonel  Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
the  two  Lees,  and  in  fact  all  the  Virginians  of  note,  agreed 
that,  whatever  the  Boston  people  might  do,  or  whenever 
they  should  act,  they  must  be  sustained  at  all  hazards  ! 

I  availed  myself  of  these  occasions  to  assure  Colonel 
Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson  and  all  the  others  that  my  ser- 
vices would  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Colonies  whenever 
their  cause  should  require  service  on  my  own  element, 
which  would,  of  course,  be  coincident  with  the  outbreak 
of  regular  hostilities  on  the  land. 


22 


CHAPTEE  II 
FOUNDING  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY 

Early  in  the  spring*  of  1775  Jones  went  to  New 
York  in  his  sloop,  making  a  leisurely  trip  and 
spending"  some  time  in  the  waters  and  among  the 
islands  of  the  eastern  shore,  at  his  favorite  sports  of 
gunning  and  fishing.  The  crew  of  his  sloop  included 
two  of  his  own  stalwart  young  slaves,  Cato  and 
Scipio.  He  was  in  New  York  the  21st  of  April, 
1775,  when  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington 
reached  there.     In  his  journal  he  says  : 

The  first  to  apprise  me  of  the  news  was  William  Living:- 
ston,  Esquire,  whom  I  chanced  to  meet  in  King  William 
Street,  and  in  a  short  time  it  was  promulgated  through  the 
town  by  means  of  leaflets  issued  from  the  printing-presses. 
This  caused  an  immediate  change  of  my  plans.  I  had  fully 
intended  to  prolong  my  voyage  to  Boston  by  going  through 
the  Sounds,  being  extremely  desirous  to  see  that  town  and 
make  the  acquaintance  of  its  people  ;  to  which  end  I  had 
already  obtained  letters  from  Mr.  Livingston  and  others 
introducing  me.  But  now  I  hastened  the  completion  of 
my  business  in  New  York.  I  had  intended  to  charter  a 
ship  there  for  a  voyage  to  Tobago  and  possibly  to  the  old 
country,  but  now  I  abandoned  that  purpose  and  on  the 
34th  set  sail  for  home,  picking  up  my  moorings  on  the 
27th  at  the  plantation.  I  at  once  took  steps  to  put  myself 
in  communication  with  Mr.  Hewes  and  other  members  of 
the  Continental  Congress  whom  I  had  the  honor  to  know. 

23 


PAUL   JONES 

The  first  Session  of  the  Con^'ess,  meeting  at  Philadelphia, 
September  4,  1774,  had  m.ade  no  provision  whatever  for  the 
raising  of  forces  either  by  land  or  by  sea  ;  which  I  thought 
an  unwise  omission,  as  it  left  the  first  shock  to  be  borne  by 
the  individual  Colony  in  which  it  might  occur,  and  put 
upon  the  Congress  when  it  should  again  assemble  the 
necessity  of  beginning  de  7iovo  to  create  a  general  military 
organization  in  the  midst  of  hostilities.  But  now  this 
issue  could  no  longer  be  avoided,  and  the  best  must  be 
done  that  could  be. 

Under  date  of  April  27,  1775,  tlie  day  of  his  ar- 
rival liome,  Jones  wrote  a  letter  to  Joseph  Hewes, 
sending  copies  of  it  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  Eobert 
Morris,  and  Philip  Livingston.  The  material  joart 
of  it  is  as  follows  : 

It  is,  I  think,  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  there  can  be 
no  more  temporizing.  1  am  t-oo  recently  from  the  Mother 
Country  and  my  knowledge  of  the  temper  of  the  King,  his 
Ministers  and  their  majority  in  the  Commons  is  too  fresh 
to  allow  me  to  believe  that  anything  now  is  or  possibly  can 
be  in  store  except  either  war  to  the  knife  or  total  submis- 
sion to  complete  slavery. 

I  have  long  known  that  it  is  the  fixed  purpose  of  the 
Tory  party  in  England  to  provoke  these  Colonies  to  some 
overt  act  which  would  justify  martial  law,  dispersion  of 
the  legislative  bodies  by  force  of  arms,  taking  away  the 
charters  of  self-government  and  reduction  of  all  the  North 
American  Colonies  to  the  footing  of  the  West  India  Islands 
and  Canada — that  is,  to  Crown  Colonies  under  militarj'^ 
rule ;  or,  perhaps  to  turn  them  over  to  the  mercies  of  a 
Chartered  Company  as  in  Hindostan,  all  of  which  I  have 
seen. 

I  cannot  conceive  of  submission  to  complete  slavery  • 
therefore  only  war  is  in  sight.     The  Congrei^s,  therefore, 

24 


FOUNDING   THE    AMERICAN   NAVY 

must  soon  meet  again,  and  when  it  meets,  it  must  face  the 
necessity  of  taking  those  measures  which  it  did  not  take 
last  fall  in  its  first  session,  namely,  provision  for  armament 
by  land  and  by  sea. 

Such  being  clearly  the  position  of  affairs,  I  beg  you  to 
keep  my  name  in  your  memory  when  the  Congress  shall  as- 
semble again,  and  in  any  provision  that  may  be  taken  for 
a  naval  force,  to  call  upon  me  in  any  capacity  which  your 
knowledge  of  my  seafaring  experience  and  your  opinion  of 
my  qualifications  may  dictate.* 

He  did  not  have  long-  to  wait.  But  while  waiting-, 
he  heard  early  in  May  that  two  French  frigates  had 
put  in  at  Hampton  Roads.  He  at  once  loaded  his 
sloop  with  delicacies  of  the  season  and  ran  down 
to  the  Roads,  where  he  found  the  two  frigates  under 
command  of  Commodore  (or  Capitaine  de  Yaisseau) 
de  Kersaint,  senior  officer,  with  "  the  Sailor  Prince 
of  France,"  Louis  Philippe  Joseph,!  Duke  de  Char- 
tres,  second  in  command. 

*  So  far  as  our  research  of  the  literature  or  records  of  that  period  en- 
ables us  to  judge,  Jones  was  original  in  his  imputation  of  an  ulterior  mo- 
tive to  the  overt  acts  of  oppression  which  the  Tory  party  in  England 
inflicted  upon  the  American  Colonies  during  the  six  or  seven  years  imme- 
diately preceding  the  Revolution.  All  sorts  of  reasons  for  this  oppres- 
sion were  ascribed ;  but  Jones  seems,  in  1775  at  least,  to  have  been  alone 
in  his  perception  of  a  purpose  behind  them  to  provoke  the  Colonies  to 
resistance  which  could  be  made  the  pretext  for  depriving  them  of  their 
local  self-government,  and  for  reducing  them  to  the  status  of  Crown  Col- 
onies, or  of  charter  proprietaries  like  the  domains  of  the  East  India 
Company. 

t  This  young  prince,  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  and  heir-ap- 
parent to  that  title,  had  been  selected  in  1774  to  succeed  the  Duke  de 
Bourbon-Penthievre  in  the  office  of  High  Admiral  of  France.  The  voy- 
age on  which  he  came  to  our  shores  in  1775  was  a  ''  cruise  of  instruction," 
under  the  tutorship  of  Commodore,  afterward  Admiral,  Kersaint,  one 
of  the  ablest  officers  in  the  French  Navy.     Louis  Philippe  Joseph  was  a 

33 


PAUL   JONES 

This  was  the  beginning  of  an  acquaintance  which 
was  soon  to  prove  of  vast  value  not  only  to  Paul 
Jones  personally,  but  to  the  cause  of  the  infant  na- 
tion at  large.  When  Jones  reached  the  deck  of  the 
frigate  La  Terpsichore,  the  young  Duke  greeted 
him  cordially,  and  then  Jones  informed  him  that  his 
sloop  alongside  was  laden  with  fresh  provisions  from 
his  own  and  neighboring  plantations,  which  he 
begged  His  Royal  Highness  to  accept,  with  the 
compliments  of  the  season.  He  made  no  secret  with 
the  young  Duke  and  Commodore  Kersaint  that  his 
object  was  to  obtain  information  as  to  the  plan,  de- 
sign, and  construction  of  hull,  arrangement  of  bat- 
tery, spars,  rig,  and  other  technical  particulars,  for 
the  guidance  of  the  Marine  Department  of  the  new 
American  Government,  which  he  assured  them  would 
be  formed  within  two  months,  and  which  would  fight 
it  out  with  England  to  the  bitter  end. 

Kersaint  was  naturally  conservative,  as  he  was 
the  senior  French  officer  on  the  coast  and  had  just 
heard  the  news  from   Lexington,  which  made  the 

convivial  prince,  but  able  and  ambitious,  and  he  was  also  imbued  with 
the  liberal,  not  to  say,  republican,  sentiment  then  luxuriantly  growing 
in  France.  In  this  respect  he  was  alone  in  the  Royal  Family,  and  it  has 
been  said  that  one  reason  for  assigning  him  to  the  navy  was  the  desire 
to  separate  him  from  political  connections  and  literary  associations 
which  the  King  and  Queen  and  the  Ministers  of  State  did  not  approve. 
He  had  a  few  years  before  married  Mary  Adelaide  de  Bourbon-Penthievre, 
daughter  of  the  High  Admiral.  She  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
accomplished  women  of  her  time  ;  granddaughter  of  the  Count  de  Tou- 
louse, High  Admiral  of  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, Commander  of  the  French  fleet  in  the  great  battle  off  Malaga  in 
1704,  and  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  naval  commanders  in  the  history 
of  France.  The  Count  de  Toulouse  was  a  son  of  Louis  XIV.  by  Madame 
de  Montespan,  and  it  was  said  that  her  great  granddaughter,  Mary  Ade- 
laide, inherited  all  the  beauty  and  wit  of  that  famous  woman. 

26 


FOUNDING   THE   AMERICAN   NAVY 

situation  delicate  for  neutrals.  But  the  young  Duke 
de  Chartres  took  an  enthusiastic  fancy  to  Jones  and 
allowed  him  to  obtain  the  most  complete  data  of  the 
new  frigate,  even  to  copies  of  deck  plans  and  sail 
plan  which  he  caused  his  carpenter  to  make.  Jones 
was  the  guest  of  the  Frenchmen  two  or  three  days 
and  invited  them  to  visit  his  plantation.  But  the 
outbreak  at  Lexington  had  made  it  impolitic  for 
them  to  accept  entertainment  ashore  from  persons 
known  to  be  hostile  to  King  George,  and  they  sailed 
away,  bound  for  Corunna,  Spain. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  American  frigate 
Alliance,  built  a  year  later,  was  constructed  almost 
precisely  on  the  dimensions  and  general  lines  of  the 
new  French  frigate  La  Terpsichore,  and  mounted 
exactly  the  same  battery— twenty-eight  long  twelve- 
pounders  on  the  gun  deck  and  ten  long  nines  above. 

Jones  soon  received  encouraging  responses  from 
all  four  of  the  leaders  to  whom  he  had  written,  and 
he  at  once  put  his  house  in  order.  During  May  he 
appointed  the  Frazier  Brothers,  of  Port  Koyal,  trus- 
tees of  his  estate,  ad  interim,  and  made  other  neces- 
sary dispositions  for  prolonged  absence. 

The  Continental  Congress  met  in  its  second  ses- 
sion May  10,  1775.  On  June  14th  a  provisional  Ma- 
rine or  Naval  Committee  was  appointed  to  "  consider, 
inquire  and  report  with  respect  to  organization  of  a 
naval  force."  At  first  this  Committee  consisted  of 
Eobert  Morris,  chairman ;  Philip  Livingston,  Benja- 
min Harrison,  John  Hancock,  Joseph  Hewes,  and 
Nicholas  Yan  Dyke,  members.  At  a  session  held 
June  24,  1775,  this  Committee,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Hewes,  authorized  the  chairman  ''  to  invite  John 

27 


PAUL   JOXES 

Paul  Jones,  Esquire,  gent.,  of  Virginia,  Master  Mar- 
iner, to  lay  before  tlie  Committee  such  information 
and  advice  as  may  seem  to  him  useful  in  assisting 
the  said  Committee  to  discharge  its  labors." 

Jones  received  this  invitation  at  his  home  the  1st 
of  July.  On  the  14th  he  sailed  in  his  sloop  for 
Philadelphia,  arriving  there  on  the  18th,  "having 
been,"  as  he  expressed  it,  "  much  bedeviled  by  calms 
off  the  Eastern  Shore.  I  could  have  been  more  ex- 
peditious by  land." 

Reporting  in  person  to  the  committee,  a  list  of 
inquiries  in  writing  was  handed  to  him,  embracing 
two  general  subjects :  first,  "  The  proper  qualifica- 
tions of  naval  officers,"  and,  second,  "  The  kind  or 
kinds  of  armed  vessels  most  desirable  for  the  service 
of  the  United  Colonies,  keeping  in  view  the  limited 
resources  of  the  Congress."  To  these  formal  in- 
quiries was  appended  a  suggestion  that  any  infor- 
mation he  might  wish  to  impart  concerning  the  out- 
fitting and  supply  of  such  vessels  for  cruising  would 
be  gratefully  received  and  carefully  considered. 

Mr.  Jones  was  informally  assured  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  Congress  to  offer  him  a  commission 
among  the  first  officers  authorized  to  be  emplo3^ed, 
but,  as  the  matter  was  entirely  new,  much  delibera- 
tion would  be  required  in  so  important  a  step  as 
that  of  laying  the  foundation  for  a  regular  navy,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  some  little  time  before  any 
officers  could  be  permanently  commissioned.  In 
the  meantime  the  committee  requested  Mr.  Jones  to 
*'act  as  member  of  a  commission  of  experienced 
persons  to  survey  and  report  upon  the  condition, 
availability,  and  the  expediency  of  purchasing  cer- 

88 


FOUNDING   THE    AMEEICAN    NAVY 

tain  vessels  then  in  the  Delaware  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Congress." 

To  these  duties  Paul  Jones  bent  all  the  tremen- 
dous energy  of  his  nature.  The  "commission  of 
experienced  persons  '*  consisted  of  four  merchant 
captains  besides  himself,  with  Eobert  Morris  as 
ex-officio  Chairman.  But  Jones  at  once  assumed  the 
lead ;  and  he  led  the  commission  so  completely  that 
it  is  hardly  possible  now  to  identify  the  other  four 
merchant  captains  who  were  his  colleagues,  except 
one — Nicholas  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia. 

The  work  of  this  commission  was  no  sinecure. 
About  twenty  vessels  of  all  descriptions  were  offered. 
Of  these  ships,  one  of  considerable  size  and  five 
smaller  craft  were  accepted  by  the  commission. 
The  large  one  is  known  to  history  as  the  Alfred ; 
and  of  the  five  small  ones  the  history  of  only  two, 
the  Reprisal  and  the  Lexington,  can  be  accurately 
traced.  Four  of  the  ships  had  already  seen  service  ; 
the  other  two — those  just  named — were  new.  The 
Keprisal,  under  command  of  Captain  Lambert 
Wickes,  had  the  honor  of  carrying  Dr.  Franklin  to 
France,  and  she  afterward  made  some  unimportant 
depredations  on  the  commerce  of  the  Channel  coast. 
The  Lexington  also  crossed  the  ocean  and  was  capt- 
ured by  a  British  sloop-of-war  soon  after  her  arrival 
in  European  waters.  Her  chief  claim  to  distinction 
rests  on  the  fact  that  Bichard  Dale  was  her  first 
lieutenant  when  captured. 

The  most  important  of  the  ships  "  surveyed  and 
reported  upon"  was  the  Alfred.  This  was  a  ship 
built  at  Maryport,  Cumberlandshire,  England,  about 
1766.     She  was  of  440  tons  burden  and  had  been  em- 

29 


PAUL   JONES 

ployed  in  the  North  American  trade.  In  1770  she 
was  bought  by  a  company  of  Philadelphia  merchants 
trading  to  the  East  Indies,  After  two  round  voy- 
ages to  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  Bencoolen,  and  Batavia, 
she  had  been  repaired  at  Philadelphia,  and  but  for 
the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  would  have  sailed 
on  her  third  India  voyage  in  June,  1775.  At  that 
time  all  East  India  shi]3S  carried  more  or  less  arma- 
ment even  in  time  of  profound  peace,  for  protection 
against  the  pirates  who  swarmed  on  the  Indian 
Ocean,  or,  for  that  matter,  nearer  home. 

As  an  Indiaman  the  Alfred  was  pierced  for  sixteen 
guns,  long  nine-pounders,  amidships.  When  Paul 
Jones  had  surveyed  her  he  reported  that  "  her  ton- 
nage, stability,  and  scantling  will  enable  her  to  mount 
a  battery  of  twenty-four  long  nines  on  the  gun-deck 
and  six  six-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  her 
berthing  and  hammock  spaces  will  accommodate  a 
complement  of  220  officers,  seamen,  and  marines. 
This  will  make  her  the  full  equivalent  of  a  twenty- 
eight-gun,  nine-pounder,  light  frigate  of  the  stand- 
ard British  navy  rate.  She  has  buoyancy  and 
balance  or  stability  enough  to  carry  twenty-two 
twelve-pounders  on  her  gun-deck  ;  but  I  doubt  if 
the  beams  are  strong  enough,  and  besides,  we  have 
not  the  twelve -pounders  at  hand!  I  therefore  rec- 
ommend that  she  be  bought  and  armed  as  above." 

The  provisional  Marine  Committee  approved  this 
report,  bought  the  ship,  and  on  the  25th  of  August, 
1775,  requested  Jones  to  take  charge  of  the  work 
necessary  to  convert  her  into  a  light  frigate  of  the 
rate  and  class  proposed.  From  this  he  had  no 
doubt  that  he  would  be  appointed  to  command  her 

30 


FOUNDING    THE    AMERICAN    NAVY 

when  finished  and  equipped  for  sea.  Before  the 
work  of  fitting-  out  had  progressed  very  far,  Jones 
found  that  he  could  g-et  hold  of  eight  old  English 
twelve-pounders.  He  at  once  iDrocured  these,  and 
by  fishing  the  gun-deck  beams  of  the  Alfred  amid- 
ships, and  providing  extra  stanchions,  made  her 
strong  enough  to  carry  them.  So,  as  completed, 
she  had  a  gun-deck  battery  of  eight  twelve-pounders 
amidships  and  twelve  nine-pounders  forward  and 
aft,  with  eight  six-pounders  for  the  quarter-deck. 
Among  other  things,  the  Alfred  needed  new  sheath- 
ing. Copper  bottoms  were  almost  unknownnn  1775. 
The  first  experiment  with  copper  sheathing  had 
been  tried  on  the  British  frigate  Alarm  in  1761,  and 
it  was  repeated  on  the  frigates  Aurora  and  Stag  in 
1769  and  1770  respectively.  But  it  was  not  until 
1783  that  the  use  of  copper  sheathing  became 
general.  In  the  Alfred  the  sheathing  was  simply 
pine  boards  from  three-quarters  of  an  inch  to  one 
inch  thick,  fastened  with  small  nails  to  the  plank- 
ing. There  were  no  dry-docks  anywhere  then,  so 
that  the  only  way  by  which  the  bottom  of  a  ship 
could  be  newly  sheathed  was  by  "  heaving  her 
down,"  as  it  was  termed.  Sometimes,  where  there 
was  not  much  tide,  the  ship  would  be  hove  down  at 
a  wharf.  This  was  the  case  with  the  Alfred.  Jones 
hove  her  down  at  the  Christian  Street  wharf,  Phila- 
delphia, in  September,  1775,  and  kept  her  there,  first 
on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  until  her  whole 
underwater  body  was  thoroughly  repaired  and  newly 
sheathed  with  pine  boards. 

This  and  other  needful  repairs   and   alterations 
were  enough  to  keep  almost  any  man  fully  occupied 


PAUL  JONES 

in  superintendence ;  but  while  it  was  g^oing"  on, 
Jones  found  time  to  draft  replies  to  the  general  in- 
quiries of  the  committee  on  the  subjects  of  naval 
personnel  and  materiel  respectively.  These  two 
documents  were  laid  before  the  committee  in  writ- 
ing" ;  the  one  on  personnel  under  date  of  September 
14th,  and  the  one  on  materiel  dated  October  3,  1775. 
On  the  subject  of  personnel  Jones  addressed  the 
committee  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  Joseph  Hewes. 
At  the  outset  he  said,  personally,  to  Mr.  Hewes :  "  I 
choose  this  form  of  communication  partly  because 
I  can  write  with  more  freedom  in  a  personal  letter 
than  in  a  formal  document,  and  partly  that  you  may 
have  opportunity  to  use  your  judgment  in  revision 
before  laying-  it  before  the  Honorable  Committee. 
Please,  therefore,  use  all,  or  any  part,  or  none  of  it, 
as  your  judgment  may  dictate." 

Mr.  Hewes  laid  the  whole  letter  before  the  Com- 
mittee without  a  word  of  revision,  as  follows : 

As  this  is  to  be  the  foundation — or  I  may  say  the  first 
keel-timber — of  a  new  navy,  which  all  patriots  must  hope 
shall  become  among  the  foremost  in  the  world,  it  should  be 
well  begun  in  the  selection  of  the  first  list  of  officers.  You 
will  pardon  me,  I  know,  if  I  say  that  I  have  enjoyed  much 
opportunity  during  my  sea-life  to  observe  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  that  are  put  upon  naval  officers. 

It  is  by  no  means  enough  that  an  officer  of  the  navy 
should  be  a  capable  mariner.  He  must  be  that,  of  course, 
but  also  a  great  deal  more.  He  should  be  as  well  a  gen- 
tleman of  liberal  education,  refined  manners,  punctilious 
courtesy,  and  the  nicest  sense  of  personal  honor. 

He  should  not  only  be  able  to  express  himself  clearly  and 
with  force  in  his  own  language  both  with  tongue  and  pen, 
but  he  should  also  be  versed  in  French  and  Spanish — for 


FOUNDING    THE   AMERICAN   NAVY 

an  American  officer  particularly  the  former — for  our  rela- 
tions with  France  must  necessarily  soon  become  exceedingly 
close  in  view  of  the  mutual  hostility  of  the  two  countries 
toward  Great  Britain. 

The  naval  officer  should  be  familiar  with  the  principles 
of  international  law,  and  the  general  practice  of  admiralty 
jurisprudence,  because  such  knowledge  may  often,  when 
cruising  at  a  distance  from  home,  be  necessary  to  protect 
his  flag  from  insult  or  his  crew  from  imposition  or  injury 
in  foreign  ports. 

He  should  also  be  conversant  with  the  usages  of  diplo- 
macy and  capable  of  maintaining,  if  called  upon,  a  digni- 
fied and  judicious  diplomatic  correspondence  ;  because  it 
often  happens  that  sudden  emergencies  in  foreign  waters 
make  him  the  diplomatic  as  well  as  military  representative 
of  his  country,  and  in  such  cases  he  may  have  to  act  with- 
out opportunity  of  consulting  his  civic  or  ministerial  supe- 
riors at  home,  and  such  action  may  easily  involve  the 
portentous  issue  of  peace  or  war  between  great  powers. 
These  are  general  qualifications,  and  the  nearer  the  officer 
approaches  the  full  possession  of  them  the  more  likely  he 
will  be  to  serve  his  country  well  and  win  fame  and  honors 
for  himself. 

Coming  now  to  view  the  naval  officer  aboard  ship  and  in 
relation  to  those  under  his  command,  he  should  be  the 
soul  of  tact,  patience,  justice,  firmness  and  charity.  No 
meritorious  act  of  a  subordinate  should  escape  his  atten- 
tion or  be  left  to  pass  without  its  reward,  if  even  the  reward 
be  only  one  word  of  approval.  Conversely,  he  should  not 
be  blind  to  a  single  fault  in  any  subordinate  though,  at  the 
same  time  he  should  be  quick  and  unfailing  to  distinguish 
error  from  malice,  thoughtlessness  from  incompetency,  and 
well-meant  shortcoming  from  heedless  or  stupid  blunder. 
As  he  should  be  universal  and  impartial  in  his  reAvards 
and  approval  of  merit,  so  should  he  be  judicial  and  un- 
bending in  his  punishment  or  reproof  of  misconduct. 

In  his  intercourse  with  subordinates  he  should  ever 
Vol.  I— 3  33 


PAUL   JONES 

maintain  the  attitude  of  the  commander,  but  that  need  by 
no  means  prevent  him  from  the  amenities  of  cordiality  or 
the  cultivation  of  good  cheer  within  proper  limits.  Every 
commanding  officer  should  hold  with  his  subordinates  such 
relations  as  will  make  them  constantly  anxious  to  receive 
invitation  to  sit  at  his  mess-table,  and  his  bearing  toward 
them  should  be  such  as  to  encourage  them  to  express  their 
opinions  to  him  with  freedom  and  to  ask  his  views  without 
reserve. 

It  is  always  for  the  best  interests  of  the  service  that  a 
cordial  interchange  of  sentiments  and  civilities  should  sub- 
sist between  superior  and  subordinate  officers  aboard  ship. 
Therefore  it  is  the  worst  of  policy  in  superiors  to  behave 
toward  their  subordinates  with  indiscriminate  hauteur,  as 
if  the  latter  Avere  of  a  lower  species.  Men  of  liberal  minds, 
themselves  accustomed  to  command,  can  ill  brook  being 
thus  set  at  naught  by  others  who,  from  temporary  author- 
ity, may  claim  a  monopoly  of  power  and  sense  for  the  time 
being.  If  such  men  experience  rude,  ungentle  treatment 
from  their  superiors,  it  will  create  such  heart-burnings  and 
resentments  as  are  nowise  consonant  with  that  cheerful 
ardor  and  ambitious  spirit  that  ought  ever  to  be  character- 
istic of  officers  of  all  grades.  In  one  word,  every  com- 
mander should  keep  constantly  before  him  the  great  truth, 
that  to  be  well  obeyed  he  must  be  perfectly  esteemed. 

But  it  is  not  alone  with  subordinate  officers  that  a  com- 
mander has  to  deal.  Behind  them,  and  the  foundation  of 
all,  is  the  crew.  To  his  men  the  commanding  officer  should 
be  Prophet,  Priest  and  King  !  His  authority  when  off 
shore  being  necessarily  absolute,  the  crew  should  be  as  one 
man  impressed  that  the  Captain,  like  the  Sovereign,  "  can 
do  no  wrong!  " 

This  is  the  most  delicate  of  all  the  commanding  officer's 
obligations.  No  rule  can  be  set  for  meeting  it.  It  must 
ever  be  a  question  of  tact  and  perception  of  human  nature 
on  the  spot  and  to  suit  the  occasion.  If  an  officer  fails  in 
this,  he  cannot  make  up  for  such  failure  by  severity,  aus- 

34 


FOUNDING   THE   AMERICAN   NAVY 

terity,  or  cruelty.  Use  force  and  apply  restraint  or  pun- 
ishment as  he  may,  he  will  always  have  a  sullen  crew  and 
an  unhappy  ship.  But  force  must  be  used  sometimes  for 
the  ends  of  discipline.  On  such  occasions  the  quality  of  the 
commander  will  be  most  sorely  tried.  You  and  the  other 
members  of  the  Honorable  Committee  will,  I  am  sure,  par- 
don me  for  speaking  with  some  feeling  on  this  point.  It  is 
known  to  you  and,  I  presume,  to  the  other  gentlemen,  your 
colleagues,  that,  only  a  few  years  ago,  I  was  called  upon 
in  a  desperate  emergency  and  as  a  last  resort  to  preserve 
the  discipline  requisite  for  the  salvation  of  my  ship  and  my 
fever-stricken  crew,  to  put  to  death  with  my  own  hands  a 
refractory  and  wholly  incorrigible  sailor.  I  stood  jury 
trial  for  it  and  was  honorably  acquitted.  My  acquittal 
was  due  wholly  to  the  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of 
the  jury  by  the  testimony  of  my  crew.  .  .  .  I  do  not 
reproach  myself.  But  it  is  a  case  to  illustrate  the  truth  of 
what  I  have  already  said,  namely,  that  the  commander 
should  always  impress  his  crew  with  the  belief  that,  what- 
ever he  does  or  may  have  to  do,  is  right,  and  that,  like  the 
Sovereign,  he  "can  do  no  wrong"! 

When  a  commander  has,  by  tact,  patience,  justice,  and 
firmness,  each  exercised  in  its  proper  turn,  produced  such 
an  impression  upon  those  under  his  orders  in  a  ship  of  war, 
he  has  only  to  await  the  appearance  of  his  enemy's  top- 
sails upon  the  horizon.  He  can  never  tell  when  that  mo- 
ment may  come.  But  when  it  does  come  he  may  be  sure 
of  victory  over  an  equal  or  somewhat  superior  force,  or 
honorable  defeat  by  one  greatly  superior.  Or,  in  rare  cases, 
sometimes  justifiable,  he  may  challenge  the  devotion  of  his 
followers  to  sink  with  him  alongside  the  more  powerful  foe, 
and  all  go  down  together  with  the  unstricken  flag  of  their 
country  still  waving  defiantly  over  them  in  their  ocean 
sepulchre! 

No  such  achievements  are  possible  to  an  unhappy  ship 
with  a  sullen  crew. 

All  these  considerations  pertain    to  the  naval    officer 

35 


PAUL   JONES 

afloat.  But  part,  and  often  an  important  part,  of  his 
career  must  be  in  port  or  on  duty  ashore.  Here  he  must  be 
of  affable  temper  and  a  master  of  civilities.  He  must  meet 
and  mix  with  his  inferiors  of  rank  in  society  ashore,  and  on 
such  occasions  he  must  have  tact  to  be  easy  and  gracious 
with  them,  particularly  when  ladies  are  present  ;  at  the 
same  time  without  the  least  air  of  patronage  or  affected 
condescension,  though  constantly  preserving  the  distinction 
of  rank. 

It  may  not  be  possible  to  always  realize  these  ideas  to 
the  full  ;  but  they  should  form  the  standard,  and  selec- 
tions ought  to  be  made  with  a  view  to  their  closest  approxi- 
mation. 

In  old  established  navies  like,  for  example,  those  of 
Britain  and  France,  generations  are  bred  and  specially 
educated  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  officers.  In 
land  forces  generals  may  and  sometimes  do  rise  from  the 
ranks.  But  I  have  not  yet  heard  of  an  Admiral  coming 
aft  from  a  forecastle. 

Even  in  the  merchant  service,  master  mariners  almost 
invariably  start  as  cabin  apprentices.  In  all  my  Avide 
acquaintance  with  the  merchant  service  I  can  now  think  of 
but  three  competent  master  mariners  who  made  their  first 
appearance  on  board  ship  "through  the  hawse-hole,"  as 
the  saying  is. 

A  navy  is  essentially  and  necessarily  aristocratic.  True 
as  may  be  the  political  principles  for  which  we  are  now 
contending,  they  can  never  be  practically  applied  or  even 
admitted  on  board  ship,  out  of  port  or  off  soundings. 
This  may  seem  a  hardship,  but  it  is  nevertheless  the  sim- 
plest of  truths.  Whilst  the  ships  sent  forth  by  the  Con- 
gress may  and  must  fight  for  the  principles  of  human  rights 
and  republican  freedom,  the  ships  themselves  must  be 
ruled  and  commanded  at  sea  under  a  system  of  absolute 
despotism. 

I  trust  that  I  have  now  made  fairly  clear  to  you  the 
tremendous  responsibilities  that  devolve  upon  the  Honor- 

36 


FOUNDING  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY 

able  Committee  of  which  you  are  a  member.  You  are 
called  upon  to  found  a  new  navy ;  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  a  new  power  afloat  that  must  some  time,  in  the  course  of 
human  events,  become  formidable  enough  to  dispute  even 
with  England  the  mastery  of  the  ocean.  Neither  you  nor 
I  may  live  to  see  such  growth.  But  we  are  here  at  the 
planting  of  the  tree,  and  maybe  some  of  us  must,  in  the 
course  of  destiny,  water  its  feeble  and  struggling  roots  with 
our  blood.  If  so,  let  it  be  so  !  We  cannot  help  it.  We 
must  do  the  best  we  can  with  what  we  have  at  hand  ! 

It  does  not  seem  necessary  to  say  that,  as  a  wliole, 
this  letter  of  Paul  Jones  to  the  Marine  Committee 
of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1775  embodies  the 
logic  and  philosophy  of  naval  organization  and  the 
elements  of  sea-power  to-day  quite  as  fundamentally 
as  it  did  then,  or  as  they  ever  can  be  embodied  un- 
der any  conditions  conceivable  in  the  future. 

The  letter  was  read  by  George  Washington,  to 
whom  Mr.  Hewes  submitted  it  before  handing  it  to 
the  committee.  Mr.  Hewes  records  Washington  as 
saying  after  he  had  read  it : 

"  Mr.  Jones  is  clearly  not  only  a  master  mariner 
within  the  scope  of  the  art  of  navigation,  but  he  also 
holds  a  strong  and  profound  sense  of  the  political 
and  military  weight  of  command  on  the  sea.  His 
powers  of  usefulness  are  great  and  must  be  con- 
stantly kept  in  view." 

Clear,  forcible,  and  philosophical  as  was  Paul 
Jones's  review  of  the  qualities  and  qualifications  of 
the  ideal  naval  ofiicer,  the  information  and  advice  he 
offered  to  the  committee  on  the  subject  of  ships  and 
their  armament  "vvas  no  less  wise  and  sound.  Early 
in  the  session  a  scheme,  originated  in  New  England, 

37 


PAUL   JONES 

Lad  been  presented  to  the  committee  providing  for 
the  construction  of  six  ships  of  the  line  of  seventy- 
four  guns,  and  six  frigates  of  thirty-two  guns  each. 
This  scheme  being  part  of  the  matter  submitted  to 
Jones  for  his  opinion  and  recommendation,  he  dis- 
posed of  it  as  follows : 

At  this  stage  of  our  fortunes  I  think  it  unwise  to  at- 
tempt ships  of  the  line.  Such  vessels  are  too  large  and 
costly  both  in  building  and  keeping  in  commission,  and 
require  too  many  men  for  our  present  resources.  Their 
use  is  mainly  strategical,  for  which  jDurpose  they  must 
operate  in  fleets  and  squadrons,  calculated  to  fight  ranged 
battles  or  to  make  extensive  demonstrations  or  to  protect 
military  expeditions  over  sea,  or  to  overawe  inferior 
powers. 

The  posture  of  our  affairs  does  not  present  such  re- 
quirements. "We  cannot  hope  to  contend  with  Britain 
for  mastery  of  the  sea  on  a  grand  scale.  We  cannot  now 
nor  for  a  long  time  hope  for  conditions  admitting  of 
such  an  attitude.  As  it  is,  only  four  powers  are  able  to 
maintain  fleets  of  the  line  capable  of  standing  up  in 
ranged  battle.  They  are  England,  France,  Spain,  and  the 
Netherlands,  and  their  fleets  are  the  growth  of  centuries. 

Besides  these  strategical  and  political  considerations 
there  are  mechanical  reasons  against  attempting  ships  of 
the  line.  Such  vessels  are  nearly  always  built  in  the 
public  dockyards  abroad.  It  is  seldom,  even  in  England, 
that  a  private  shipyard  is  entrusted  with  the  building 
of  a  line-of-battle  ship.  In  the  dockyard  is  always  an  ac- 
cumulation of  timber  of  the  scantling  sizes  required  in  such 
ships,  which  is  kept  seasoning  for  years  before  being  put 
into  frames  and  siding  of  ships.  Y/e  have  no  dockyards, 
no  seasoned  thnber  of  scantling  sizes  suitable  for  ships  of 
the  line.  Hence,  if  we  build  them — which  few  of  our  ship- 
yards can  do — we  must  put  green  timber  in  them,  fresh  cut 

88 


FOUNDING   THE    AMERICAN   NAVY 

from  the  forests.  Ships  so  built  must  be  most  perishable. 
In  short,  every  element  of  our  situation  seems  to  me  to  con- 
demn the  project  of  building  ships  of  the  line. 

Even  supposing  all  the  above  considerations  to  be  laid 
aside  or  overcome,  we  may  yet  survey  the  financial  side.  A 
seventy-four- gun  ship  on  modern  lines  must  be  at  least  of 
1,600  to  1,050  tons  burthen.  My  information  as  late  a,s 
two  years  ago,  based  upon  Parliamentary  estim.ates  and 
dockyard  reports  in  England,  is  that  a  seventy-four,  built 
at  Chatham  in  1773,  cost  between  £19  and  £20  per  ton, 
when  armed  and  equipped,  ready  to  take  on  crew  and  sea- 
stores.  In  the  present  state  of  our  resources  I  do  not  be- 
lieve we  could  do  as  well,  notwithstanding  our  cheaper  and 
more  plentiful  supply  of  timber  ;  at  least  of  standing  tim- 
ber ;  because  tjie  other  elements  of  building,  such  as  metal 
for  fastenings,  armament,  etc.,  would  be  much  dearer  than 
in  England.  But  supposing  we  could  do  as  well,  our 
seventy-four-gun  ship  of  1,600  tons  must  cost  at  least 
£28,500  to  £30,000.  Besides,  as  ships  of  that  class  must 
mount  at  least  twenty-four-pounders  on  their  lower  gun- 
decks,  where  are  we  to  get  the  guns  ?  And  even  so,  we 
would  when  done,  have  only  a  green  timber  ship  for  our 
£30, 000  that  must  begin  dry-rotting  in  her  hull  almost  be- 
fore her  rigging  is  set  up. 

Nor  would  I  go  to  the  other  extreme  and  counsel  the  fit- 
ting-out of  small  vessels  able  only  to  harass  the  enemy's 
commerce.  That  character  of  sea-warfare,  important  as  it 
is,  may,  I  think,  be  left  in  the  main  to  the  enterprise  or 
cupidity,  or  both,  of  private  individuals  or  associations 
who  will  take  out  letters-of-marque  and  equip  privateers. 

You  perceive  that  I  now  come  to  consider  a  class  of  ships 
we  do  need  ;  that  is,  frigates.  This  class,  rating  from  thir- 
ty-two to  thirty-six  guns,  can  sustain  long  voyages  which 
the  smaller  craft  cannot  do.  We  can  build  a  frigate  in  half 
the  time  required  for  a  seventy-four,  and  at  little  if  any 
more  than  half  the  cost.  My  latest  knowledge  of  the  cost 
of  a  frigate  built  in  England  is  one  of  thirty-six  guns  com- 

39 


PAUL   JONES 

missioned  in  1774,  of  820  tons,  eosting,  ready  for  sea-stores, 
£13,400.  I  am  sure  we  could  do  as  well  as  that  here,  and 
besides,  there  is  much  timber  on  hand  in  our  private  ship- 
yards, or  at  least  the  larger  ones,  both  in  New  England  and 
on  the  Delaware,  cut  some  time  ago,  seasoned,  and  intended 
for  large  merchant  vessels,  that  could  be  worked  into  the 
frames,  planking,  and  spars  of  thirty-two-gun,  or  even  thir- 
ty-six-gun, frigates. 

I  have  the  general  plans  and  dimensions  of  the  latest 
thirty-six-gun,  twelve-pounder  frigate  of  the  French  Navy. 
[This  was  La  Terpsichore.]     Her  dimensions  are  as  follows: 

Length  on  the  gun-deck 142  feet 

♦'      of  keel  for  tonnage 123    *♦ 

Extreme  breadth 37    ** 

Depth  of  hold 13    ** 

Burthen  in  tons 848  to  850 

Main-deck  battery 26  long  12s 

Quarter-deck  battery 6     "       9s 

Forecastle  battery G     "      9s 

Complement,  all  hands 312 

I  would  undertake  to  arrange  for  the  building  of  such 
a  frigate  here  in  Philadelphia,  within  sight  of  the  place 
where  the  Committee  sits,  and  guarantee  that  her  cost,  ex- 
cept the  guns,  but  otherwise  ready  for  crew  and  sea-stores, 
should  not  exceed  £15,000,  and  I  think  it  could  be  kept 
within  £14,500  by  careful  economy.  It  would  be  wise  to 
provide  for  the  building  of  at  least  six  such  frigates.  I 
would  not  counsel  smaller  ones,  such  as  twenty-eights  or 
even  thirty-twos  ;  because  the  drift  of  progress  is  to  make 
frigates  heavier  all  the  time,  and  anything  inferior  to  the 
twelve-pounder,  thirty-six-gun  frigate  is  now  behind  the 
times.  On  the  other  hand,  I  would  take  a  step  further  than 
the  English  and  Frencli  have  yet  gone  in  frigate  design.  I 
would  create  a  class  of  eighteen-pounder  frigates  to  rate 

40 


FOUNDING    THE    AMERICAN    NAVY 

thirty-eight  or  forty  guns.  Thus  far  eighteen-pounders 
have  not  been  mounted  in  single-decked  ships.  Take  the 
ship  described  above,  add  eight  feet  to  her  length,  two  feet 
to  her  breadth,  and  one  foot  to  her  depth  of  hold.  That 
will  give  you  a  burthen  of  1,000  tons  or  very  nearly.  She 
will  carry  twenty-six  long  eighteens  on  her  gun-deck  and 
fourteen  long  nines  on  quarter-deck  and  forecastle.  By  this 
means  we  shall  have  a  ship  of  frigate  build  and  rate,  but 
one-half  again  stronger  than  any  other  frigate  now  afloat. 
In  addition  to  the  six  already  proposed,  to  carry  twelve- 
pounders,  it  would  be  wise  to  provide  for  at  least  four  of 
the  new  class  of  eighteen-pounder  frigates  that  I  propose, 
and,  if  possible,  six. 

We  should,  at  the  earliest  moment,  have  a  squadron  of 
four,  five,  or  six  frigates  like  the  above — either  or  both 
classes — constantly  in  British  waters,  harboring  and  refit- 
ting in  the  ports  of  France,  which  nation  must  from  self- 
interest  alone,  lean  toward  us  from  the  start,  and  must 
sooner  or  later  openly  espouse  our  cause. 

Keeping  such  a  squadron  in  British  waters,  alarming  their 
coasts,  intercepting  their  trade,  and  descending  now  and 
then  upon  their  least  protected  ports,  is  the  only  way  that 
we,  with  our  slender  resources,  can  sensibly  affect  our  enemy 
by  sea- warfare. 

Rates  of  insurance  will  rise  ;  necessary  supplies  from 
abroad,  particularly  naval  stores  for  the  British  dockyards, 
will  be  cut  off  ;  transports  carrying  troops  and  supply-ships 
bringing  military  stores  for  land  operations  against  us  will 
be  captured,  and  last  but  not  least,  a  considerable  force  of 
their  ships  and  seamen  will  be  kept  watching  or  searching 
for  our  frigates. 

In  planning  and  building  our  new  frigates  I  would  keep 
fast  sailing,  on  all  points,  in  view  as  a  prime  quality.  But 
no  officer  of  true  spirit  would  conceive  it  his  duty  to  use 
the  speed  of  his  ship  in  escape  from  an  enemy  of  like  or 
nearly  like  force.  If  I  had  an  eighteen-pounder  frigate  of 
the  class  above  described,  I  should  not  consider  myself  justi- 

41 


PAUL   JONES 

fied  in  showing  her  heels  to  a  forty-four  of  the  present  time, 
or  even  to  a  fifty-gun  ship  built  ten  years  ago. 

A  sharp  battle  now  and  then,  or  the  capture  and  carrying 
as  prize  into  a  French  port  of  one  or  two  of  their  crack 
frigates,  would  raise  us  more  in  the  estimation  of  Europe, 
where  we  now  most  of  all  need  countenance,  than  could  the 
defeat  or  even  capture  of  one  of  their  armies  on  the  land 
here  in  America.  And  at  the  same  time  it  would  fill  all 
England  with  dismay.  If  w^e  show  to  the  world  that  we 
can  beat  them  afloat  with  an  equal  force,  ship  to  ship,  it 
will  be  more  than  anyone  else  has  been  able  to  do  in  mod- 
ern times,  and  it  will  create  a  great  and  most  desirable  sen- 
timent of  respect  and  favor  towards  us  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe,  where  really,  I  think,  the  question  of  our  fate  must 
ultimately  be  determined. 

Beyond  this,  if  by  exceedingly  desperate  fighting,  one  of 
our  ships  shall  conquer  one  of  theirs  of  markedly  superior 
force,  we  shall  be  hailed  as  the  pioneers  of  a  new  power  on 
the  sea  with  untold  prospects  of  development,  and  the 
prestige  if  not  the  substance  of  English  dominion  over 
the  ocean  will  be  forever  broken.  Happy,  indeed,  will 
be  the  lot  of  the  American  captain  upon  whom  fortune 
shall  confer  the  honor  of  fighting  that  battle  ! 


The  rest  of  this  unique  paper  is  an  apology  for  its 
length  and  an  assurance  that  "the  opinions  offered 
are  based  uioon  long  and  arduous  experience  at  sea, 
and  drawn  from  diligent  study  of  the  modes  and  ef- 
fects of  maritime  warfare." 

Mr.  Hewes  says  that  this  paper  "  summarily  put 
an  end  to  consideration  of  ships  of  the  line,  and  the 
programme  of  new  ships  authorized  by  the  Eesolu- 
tion  of  December  13,  1775,  was,  with  a  few  changes, 
laid  down  on  the  lines  traced  by  Paul  Jones."  Six 
twelvo-pounder  frigates,  though   rating   thirty-two 

42 


FOUNDING  THE  AMEKICAN  NAVY 

instead  of  thirty-six  guns,  were  at  once  authorized  ; 
and  the  next  year  one  eig-hteen-pounder  frigate  was 
ordered  to  be  built  at  Salisbury,  Mass.,  and  another 
was  contracted  for  at  Amsterdam  by  our  Commis- 
sioners to  France,  Dr.  Franklin  and  Silas  Deane,  to 
be  built  in  the  shipyard  of  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company.* 

*  These  two  ships,  as  originally  ordered,  were  to  be  built  on  the 
lines  and  plans  of  La  Terpsichore  as  expanded  by  Paul  Jones  for  an 
eighteen-pounder  frigate.  But  the  one  ordered  built  in  New  England, 
which  became  the  Alliance  (built  at  Salisbury,  on  the  Merrimac),  was 
actually  laid  down  and  constructed  on  the  original  lines  of  the  French 
frigate  as  furnished  by  Jones,  with  the  single  exception  that  her  length 
was  increased  by  seven  feet.  When  completed  she  was  armed  with 
twenty-six  long  twelve-pounders  on  the  gun-deck  and  ten  smaller  guns — 
nines  and  sixes — on  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle.  The  one  contracted 
for  in  Holland  was  laid  down  on  Jones's  expanded  lines,  but  was  further 
lengthened  by  five  feet.  This  vessel  will  receive  attention  later,  in  these 
pages.  She  was  known  at  first  as  the  Indien,  and  after  some  vicissitudes 
found  her  way  into  our  navy  as  the  South  Carolina.  She  was  planned 
to  carry  thirty  long  eighteen-pounders  and  fourteen  long  nines.  But  a 
Dutch  ofl&cer  named  Gillon,  who  was  employed  by  Silas  Deane  to  super- 
intend her  construction,  altered  the  battery-plan  by  substituting  short 
thirty- six-pounders  for  the  long  eighteens.  These  short  guns  were  the 
precursors  of  the  ''carronade"  invented  about  twenty  years  later. 
They  were  then  known  as  "Swedish  guns,"  from  their  origin  in  that 
country. 


43 


CHAPTEK  in 

CRUISES    OF    THE    PROVIDEIS^CE    AND    THE 

ALFRED 

About  the  middle  of  December,  1775,  the  com- 
mittee recommended  the  appointment  of  five  cap- 
tains, five  first  lieutenants,  and  eight  junior  lieuten- 
ants. There  had  been  earlier  appointments  by 
individual  Colonies,  but  this  was  the  first  national 
navy  list — the  foundation  of  the  American  Nav3^ 
The  senior  captain,  Ezek  Hopkins,  was  nominated 
commodore,  and  the  four  other  captains  were  Dud- 
ley Saltonstall,  Nicholas  Biddle,  Abraham  Whipple, 
and  John  B.  Hopkins.  Paul  Jones  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  list  of  lieutenants. 

This  arrangement  had  been  the  subject  of  heated 
debate  in  the  committee,  between  Mr.  Adams,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  Mr.  Hewes,  of  North  Carolina. 
Mr.  Adams  was  the  particular  champion  of  Dudley 
Saltonstall ;  Mr.  Hewes  of  Paul  Jones.  In  his  de- 
scription of  this  debate,  Mr.  Hewes  does  not  mince 
words.     He  says : 

The  attitude  of  Mr.  Adams  was  in  keeping  with  the  al- 
ways imperious  and  often  arrogant  tone  of  the  Massachusetts 
people  at  that  time.  They  contended  tliat  they  had  shed  the 
first  blood,  both  their  own  and  that  of  the  enemy.  They 
urged  that  they  had  already  yielded  everything  to  Virginia 
and   Pennsylvania  in   tlie   organization  and  command   of 

44 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

the  Army  ;  that  they,  representing  the  principal  maritime 
Colony,  were  entitled  to  the  leading  voice  in  the  creation 
of  the  Naval  force.  Mr.  Adams  went  so  far  as  to  say  that 
Mr.  Saltonstall,  a  native  of  the  Colony  and  having  com- 
manded none  other  than  Colonial  vessels,  stood  on  a  differ- 
ent footing  from  Paul  Jones,  who  had  never  commanded 
any  but  English  ships  with  English  crews,  had  no  ac- 
quaintance with  Colonial  seamen  and,  in  fact,  had  not  been 
a  resident  of  the  Colonies  more  than  about  two  years.  As 
between  such  antecedents,  Mr.  Adams  declared  there  could 
be  no  ground  for  debate.  I  then  proposed  to  make  six  cap- 
tains instead  of  five,  thus  placing  Paul  Jones  at  the  foot  of 
that  list  instead  of  at  the  head  of  the  lieutenants.  To  this 
Mr.  Adams  demurred  on  the  ostensible  ground  that  there 
would  be  no  ship  for  him  to  command.  I  then  perceived 
that  this  was  a  cunning  ruse  of  Mr.  Adams  who  wished  to 
keep  Jones  in  the  grade  of  lieutenant  so  that  Captain 
baltonstall,  who  was  to  command  the  Alfred  if  Mr.  Adams 
could  bring  it  about,  might  have  the  benefit  of  Jones's  ser- 
vices as  first  lieutenant  of  that  ship. 

The  Committee  having  adjourned,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
apprise  Mr.  Jones  of  all  the  facts.  I  had  some  apprehen- 
sion of  an  indignant  protest  from  him,  knowing  his  ex- 
tremely sensitive  spirit,  but  was  most  agreeably  disap- 
pointed at  his  reply.  He  said  :  "I  am  sorry  Mr.  Adams 
holds  a  poor  opinion  of  me ;  but  I  am  here  to  serve  the 
cause  of  human  rights ;  not  to  promote  the  fortunes  of 
Paul  Jones.  If,  by  devotion  to  the  one  I  can  secure  the 
other,  well  and  good.  But  if  either  must  wait,  let  it  be 
my  fortunes.  Do  not  debate  the  point  further  with  Mr. 
Adams.  Let  the  Resolution  go  as  it  is.  Leave  me  at  the 
head  of  the  lieutenants'  list.  I  will  cheerfully  enter  upon 
the  duties  of  first  lieutenant  of  the  Alfred  under  Captain 
Saltonstall.     Time  will  make  all  things  even. " 

The  next  morning  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  relating  all 

this  to  Mr.  Adams,  and  that  he  felt  the  implied  rebuke  was 

plainly  evident. 

45 


PAUL   JONES 

The  resolution  as  agreed  upon  and  reported  from 
the  committee  was  passed  by  the  Congress,  Decem- 
ber 22,  1775.  By  its  provisions  Ezek  Hopkins  was 
made  senior  officer  of  the  Colonial  or  Continental 
Navy,  then  consisting-  of  four  ships — the  Alfred, 
Captain  Dudley  Saltonstall ;  the  Columbus,  Cap- 
tain Abraham  Whipple  ;  the  Andrea  Doria,  Captain 
Nicholas  Biddle  ;  and  the  Cabot,  Captain  John  B. 
Hopkins.  The  first  lieutenants,  after  Paul  Jones, 
we-re  Rhodes  Arnold,  Eli  Stansbury,  Hersted  Hacker, 
and  Jonathan  Pitcher.  The  junior  lieutenants  were 
Benjamin  Seaburj^,  Joseph  Olney,  Elisha  Warner, 
Thomas  Weaver,  James  McDougall,  John  Fanning, 
Ezekiel  Burrows,  and  Daniel  Vaughan. 

Of  the  captains  in  this  list  New  England  surely 
had  the  lion's  share.  Mr.  Adams  succeeded  in  get- 
ting for  his  section  four  out  of  five — the  two  Hop- 
kinses,  Saltonstall,  and  Whipple.  Pennsylvania, 
through  the  pertinacity  of  Eobert  Morris,  got  one 
— the  brave  and  accomplished,  but  unfortunate, 
Nicholas  Biddle.  Out  of  the  total  number — fivo 
captains  and  thirteen  lieutenants — but  two  names 
live  with  any  lustre  whatever — Nicholas  Biddle  and 
Paul  Jones.  What  the  career  of  Nicholas  Biddle 
might  have  been,  had  the  fortunes  of  war  been 
kind  to  him,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  his 
brave  life  ended  almost  before  his  career  had  be- 
gun by  the  blowing  up  of  his  little  thirty-two-gun 
frigate,  the  Ptandolph,  in  his  desperate  attempt  to 
measure  strength  with  the  British  ship  Yarmouth, 
of  exactly  twice  his  force — sixty-four  guns — about 
sundown,  March  7,  1778,  off  Barbados.  Just  before 
his  ship  blew  up,  Biddle,  satisfied  by  twenty  minutes' 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

broadsicliug"  that  his  little  frigate  was  no  match  for 
the  English  two-clecker  at  that  sort  of  work,  was 
wearing  round  to  close  with  the  enemy  and  lay  him 
on  board  ;  and  at  the  moment  of  the  explosion  he 
was  so  near  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose  that 
several  of  the  Yarmouth's  crew  were  injured  by  frag- 
ments of  the  Eandoljih's  hull  and  spars  that  fell  on 
board  the  enemy.  That  the  Randolph  was  well  han- 
dled and  bravely  defended  is  attested  by  the  losses 
in  the  Yarmouth  while  the  little  frigate  was  alive 
and  fighting.  And  for  even  this  sad  fragment  of 
our  naval  history  the  country  is  indebted  to  four 
survivors  of  the  Randolph's  gallant  crew  who  were 
picked  up  by  the  Yarmouth  herself,  floating  on  a 
piece  of  the  Randolph's  wreckage,  five  days  after  the 
battle. 

The  story  of  these  four  survivors  and  the  sufi'er- 
ings  they  had  endured  while  afloat  from  the  evening 
of  March  7th  to  the  morning  of  the  12th  on  a  piece 
of  wreck,  without  food  or  water,  so  impressed  the 
humane  Captain  Yincent,  of  the  Yarmouth,  that  he 
did  not  treat  them  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  shortly 
afterward,  when  approaching  the  American  coast, 
hove  to  off  Savannah  and  sent  them  ashore  under  a 
flag  of  truce,  not  even  exacting  from  them  a  parole. 
One  of  them  was  a  youth  of  not  over  twenty  years, 
son  of  a  prominent  and  opulent  South  Carolina 
merchant.  He  had  been  a  volunteer  midshipman 
in  the  Randolph.  His  name,  which  will  appear 
more  than  once  in  these  pages  further  on,  was  John 
Ma3^rant. 

So  much  digression  for  the  sake  of  Nicholas  Bid- 
die's  memory  needs  no  apology.     The  pity  is  that 

47 


PAUL  JONES 

fate  made  his  story  so  soon  told.  Speaking"  of  the 
"  five  captains,"  lon^  afterward,  Paul  Jones  him- 
self said :  "  Four  of  them  were  respectable  skippers  ; 
and  they  all  outlived  the  war !  One  of  them  was  the 
kind  of  naval  captain  that  the  God  of  Battles  makes. 
That  one  was  Nick  Biddle — poor,  brave  Nick  ! — and 
he  died  in  hopeless  battle  with  a  foe  double  his  ovm 
strength — half  of  his  hapless  ship  going-  down  and 
the  other  half  going  up  by  explosion  of  his  maga- 
zine ! " 

Though  sixth  on  the  list,  and  only  the  senior  lieu- 
tenant, Paul  Jones  was  the  first  of  the  pioneer 
officers  of  our  infant  navy  to  receive  his  commission, 
which  was  handed  to  him  in  the  old  Hall  of  Inde- 
pendence, Philadelphia,  by  John  Hancock  in  person, 
shortly  after  noon,  December  22,  1775.  The  other 
officers,  above  and  below  him,  received  theirs  at 
different  times  as  they  reached  Philadelphia  or  re- 
ported at  Independence  Hall. 

Immediately  after  receiving  his  commission,  Paul 
Jones,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Hancock,  Robert  Morris, 
Joseph  Hewes,  John  Langdon,  Philip  Livingston, 
Anthony  Wayne,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Benjamin  Har- 
rison, Charles  Carroll,  William  Pinckney,  and  others 
like  them,  to  the  number  of  twenty-five  or  twenty- 
six,  went  on  board  the  Alfred,  which  was  moored 
about  a  cable's  length  off  Chestnut  Street  wharf 
Captain  Saltonstall  had  not  yet  arrived  from  Boston. 
John  Hancock  directed  Lieutenant  Jones  to  take 
command  of  the  Alfred  pro  tempore  and  to  '*  break 
her  pennant  " — the  naval  phrase  meaning  to  place  a 
man-of-war  in  commission.  Obeying  this  order, 
Paul  Jones  flung  out  the  first  American   flag  ever 

48 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFEED 

shown  on  a  regular  man-of-war.  Tliis  was  not  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  but  tlie  "  Pine-tree  and  Eattle- 
snake  "  emblem  with  the  motto  "  Don't  Tread  on 
Me  !  "  Though  he  had  the  honor  of  hoisting  it  for 
the  first  time  aboard  ship,  Jones  never  fancied  this 
emblem.  Some  time  later,  in  one  of  his  journals, 
he  said  of  it : 

I  was  always  at  loss  to  know  by  what  queer  fancy  or  by 
whose  notion  that  device  was  first  adopted.  For  my  own 
part  I  could  never  see  how  or  why  a  venomous  serpent 
could  be  the  combatant  emblem  of  a  brave  and  honest  folk 
fighting  to  be  free.  Of  course  I  had  no  choice  but  to 
break  the  pennant  as  it  was  given  to  me.  But  I  always 
abhorred  the  device  and  was  glad  when  it  was  discarded  for 
one  much  more  symmetrical  as  well  as  appropriate,  a  year 
and  a  half  later. 

The  pioneer  squadron  of  our  new  navy,  as  has 
been  remarked,  consisted  of  four  ships.  Of  these 
the  Alfred  was  the  only  one  ready  for  commission 
December  22,  1775.  The  other  three  were  in  various 
stages  of  preparation  the  Doria,  Nicholas  Biddle's 
ship,  being  the  most  advanced.  As  for  the  squad- 
ron as  a  whole,  the  inexperience  or  incompetency  of 
the  new  officers,  the  almost  resourceless  condition 
of  the  infant  government,  and  the  generally  inchoate, 
not  to  say  chaotic,  state  of  affairs,  kept  the  little 
fleet  in  port  until  February  17, 1776,  when  it  cleared 
Cape  Henlopen  and  stood  to  the  southward  and 
eastward,  bound  on  an  expedition  against  what  was 
then  called  Fort  Nassau,  New  Providence  Island,  in 
the  Bahamas. 

This  cruise  lasted  from  February  17th  to  April  8, 
Vol.  I.— 4  49 


PAUL   JONES 

1776,  when  tlie  squadron  came  to  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  New  London.  Of  its  operations,  the  less 
said  the  better.  They  consisted  of  a  desultory 
descent  on  New  Providence  Island  in  the  latter  part 
of  Febrnary  and  a  running*  fig-ht  off  the  east  end  of 
Long  Island,  April  6th,  with  the  twenty-gun  Brit- 
ish sloop-of-war,  Glasgow,  in  which  the  latter,  all 
things  considered,  had  the  better  of  the  action.  So 
far  as  Paul  Jones  was  concerned,  his  subordinate 
position  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  prevent  the 
errors  or  be  responsible  for  the  failures  of  the 
cruise.  Perhaps  the  most  salutary  as  well  as  most 
noteworthy  result  of  the  whole  affair  was  the  dis- 
missal of  the  "  Commander-in-Chief,"  Ezek  Hopkins, 
from  the  navy,  by  resolution  of  Congress,  on  Janu- 
ary 2d,  following,  after  a  fair  and  exhaustive  investi- 
gation. Another  result  was  the  temporary  retire- 
ment of  Captain  Dudley  Saltonstall  from  active 
service  ;  though  he  was  not  dismissed,  and  received 
another  command  a  year  or  more  afterward.  On 
the  whole,  the  New  England  proteges  of  John  Adams 
in  our  pioneer  navy  list  reflected  little  credit  on 
their  patron,  and  less  on  themselves. 

Though  this  ill-assorted  and  luckless  squadron 
broke  up  in  the  spring  of  1776  and  resolved  itself 
into  a  series  of  courts-martial,  votes  of  censure,  and 
dismissals  from  the  service,  its  fate  brought  forth  at 
least  one  good  result.  It  showed  Congress  that  war 
itself  is  wiser  than  statesmen  in  the  selection  of 
warriors;  that  the  first  effect  of  the  blasts  of  battle 
is  to  winnow  the  chaff  and  the  wheat  apart ;  and 
that  powder  and  ball  are  no  respecters  of  political 
influence  or  family  connections.     Incidentally  it  also 

60 


THE  PKOVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

contributed  to  give  Lieutenant  Paul  Jones  an  inde- 
pendent command   and  freed    liim,  as  tlie    sequel 
proved,  forever  from  the  incubus  of  imbecile  supe- 
riors.    His  first  command  was  indeed  a  small  one, 
but  it  was  all  his  own,  and,  fortunately  for  his  fame 
and  the  glory  of  the  American  Navy,  the  order  by 
virtue  of  which  he  assumed  it  instructed  him  to  re- 
port directly  to  the  head  of  naval  authority,  the 
Marine  Committee  of  the  Congress.    iFrom  that  mo- 
ment to  the  end  of  his  eventful  career  Paul  Jones 
was  always  the  ranking  officer  on  his  station,  and 
never  afterward  served  under  the  orders  of    any 
senior.     The  command  which  he  assumed  on  May 
10,  1776,  at  Newport,  was  that   of  the  Providence, 
sloop-of-war,  fourteen  guns  and  one  hundred   and 
seven  men.     He  took  with  him,  besides  his  two 
negro  boys,  Cato  and  Scipio,  nine  men  from  the  Al- 
fred's crew,  and  as  these,  with  three  others  he  found 
in  the  Providence,  followed  him   through  all  his 
fortunes    and   through  almost  inconceivable  vicis- 
situdes of  their  own  for  the  rest   of  the  Eevolu- 
tionary  War,  or  until  they  fell  in  action,  his  history 
would  manifestly  be   incomplete  without  mention 
of  their  names.     They  were  John  C.  Eobinson  and 
Eichard  Wallingford,  of  Philadelphia  ;  Henry  Lunt, 
Nathaniel  Fanning,   Henry    Gardner,  Owen    Star- 
buck,  Samuel  Stacey,  and  Charles  Hill,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Thomas  Potter,  of  Baltimore,  whom 
he  took  from  the  Alfred.     The  three  faithful  fol- 
lowers whom   he    found  in   the    Providence  were 
Nathan  Sargent,   of  Portsmouth,  N.   H. ;  William 
Hichborn,  of  Salem,  and  Anthony  Jeremiah,  of  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard.    All   these  were  native  Americans 

51 


PAUL   JONES 

except  Robinson,  and  one  of  them  could  surely  "read 
his  title  clear  "  to  American  birthright,  because  he 
•was  a  full-blooded  Narragansett  Indian ;  like  most 
of  the  remnant  of  his  race  then  lingering  on  Martha's 
Vineyard,  a  sailor  and  a  Avhaleman.  This  was  An- 
thony Jeremiah.  So  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  no  other 
full-blooded  American  Indian  has  ever  served  in 
our  navy. 

Jones  sailed  at  once  in  the  Providence  to  New 
York,  where  he  took  in  stores  and  shipped  a  crew  of 
regular  seamen,  the  old  crew  of  the  sloop  being,  with 
the  exception  of  a  dozen  or  so,  landsmen — mainly 
soldiers  loaned  from  the  army.  Completing  his  out- 
fit, Jones  returned  to  Newport  through  the  Sound — 
being  unable  to  get  directly  out  of  New  York  in  con- 
sequence of  the  blockade — and  on  the  14th  of  June, 
1776,  sailed  on  a  general  cruise  ranging  from  Ber- 
muda to  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland.  All  things 
considered,  and  viewing  success  as  the  most  im- 
portant test  of  priority,  this  cruise  of  the  little  Prov- 
idence, under  command  of  Paul  Jones,  in  the  early 
part  of  1776,  may,  we  think,  be  fairly  described  as 
the  first  real,  effective  cruise  of  an  American  man- 
of-war.  It  surely  and  beyond  dispute  was  the  first 
one  that  reflected  credit  on  our  flag  or  hurt  our 
enemy. 

This  cruise,  in  view  of  the  small  size  and  feeble 
force  of  the  ship,  was  remarkable  alike  in  boldness, 
pertinacity,  and  success.  The  seas  traversed  by  the 
Providence  were  full  of  English  cruisers,  all  superior 
in  everything  except  in  the  resource  and  alertness 
of  her  commander  and  the  courage  of  her  crew. 
She  captured  sixteen  vessels   of  various  descrip- 

52 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

tious,  of  which  eight  were  manned  and  sent  in,  and 
eight  were  destroyed  at  sea.  The  little  sloop  was 
chased  twice  by  British  frigates,  and  on  one  of  these 
occasions  narrowly  escaped  capture  by  manoeuvre 
so  daring  and  unexpected  that  the  frigate,  in  the 
haste  of  her  attempt  to  circumvent  it,  was  taken  all 
aback,  with  so  much  damage  to  her  rig-ging-  that  the 
Providence  got  out  of  gunshot  before  the  frigate 
could  bring  her  guns  to  bear  again.  The  manoeuvre 
consisted  in  clawing  to  windward  until  the  frigate 
had  gained  the  lee-quarter  of  the  Providence  near 
enough  to  open  with  her  port  bow  chase-gun,  and 
then  suddenly  wearing  round  off  the  wind  and  run- 
ning dead  to  leeward  ;  while  the  frigate,  endeavoring 
to  box  short  about,  came  into  the  wind,  lost  steering 
way,  and  was  taken  aback  under  a  press  of  sail  by 
a  squall.  While  in  this  condition  Jones  crossed  her 
within  half  gunshot  on  the  other  tack,  and  before 
the  frigate  could  get  squared  away  again  he  was 
out  of  reach  of  her  guns  and  running  off  before  the 
wind,  which  was  the  sloop's  best  point  of  sailing. 

Jones  was  always  as  candid  with  himself  as  with 
others.  He  never  assumed  or  pretended  anj^thing. 
In  the  course  of  a  characteristic  letter  to  Mr.  Hewes, 
dated  two  days  after  the  Providence  arrived  in  port, 
he  says : 

Now  that  I  have  told  you  how  we  escaped,  I  hardly  feel 
equal  to  the  task  of  explaining  to  you  why  we  did.  Clearly, 
we  should  not  have  escaped,  judging  by  the  usual  rules  of 
sea-manoeuvre.  If  the  frigate,  instead  of  trying  to  box 
about  as  he  did  in  a  fresh  breeze  which  he  was  standing  as 
close-hauled  to  as  his  trim  would  stand,  had  simply  fol- 
lowed my  manoiuvre  of  wearing  around  under  easy  helm, 

53 


PAUL   JONES 

trimming  his  sails  as  the  wind  bore,  I  could  not  have  dis- 
tanced him  much  in  the  alteration  of  the  course,  and  he 
must  have  come  olf  the  wind  very  nearly  with  me,  and 
before  I  could  get  out  of  his  range.  But  he  put  his  helm 
the  other  way  to,  luffed  into  the  teeth  of  a  little  squall 
that  I  saw  already  cat's-pawing  to  windward  when  I  wore 
my  ship,  and  so  he  broke  his  steering  way,  got  taken  aback, 
and  let  me  have  the  chance  to  show  him  a  clean  pair  of 
heels  on  my  little  sloop's  best  point  of  sailing.  I  do  not 
take  to  myself  all  the  credit  for  this.  I  did  the  best  I  could, 
but,  after  all,  there  was  more  luck  than  sense  about  it.  The 
fact  is,  it  was  one  of  those  singular  cases  often  happening 
at  sea,  where  the  fortune  of  a  lucky  sailor  beats  all  kinds 
of  calculation,  and  where  a  good  or  bad  puff  of  wind  foils 
all  kinds  of  skill  one  way  or  the  other  !  Be  all  this  as  it 
may,  I  got  off  scot-free,  as  you  will  see  by  the  post-date  of 
this  letter  ;  leaving  my  big  adversary  to  clear  away  his 
sheets  and  reeve  preventers  at  his  leisure  ;  meantime  an- 
swering his  distant  broadsides  by  now  and  then  a  musket- 
shot  from  my  taffrail  by  way  of  derision.  The  old  saying 
that  ''discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor,"  may  in  this 
case,  I  think,  be  changed  to  "impudence  is — or  may  be, 
sometimes — the  better  part  of  discretion  !  ' ' 

Some  idea  of  the  industrious  character  of  this 
resolute  cruise  of  the  Providence  may  be  formed 
from  the  fact  that  the  prize-crews  put  aboard  the 
eight  captured  ships  that  were  manned  and  sent  in. 
absorbed  sixty  of  her  crew  of  one  hundred  and  seven, 
leaving"  only  forty-seven  officers  and  men  for  duty, 
all  told,  when  the  ship  reached  i^ort. 

During  this  cruise  in  the  little  Providence,  Jones, 
besides  the  havoc  he  wrought  at  sea,  made  two  dar- 
ing incursions  ashore  ;  one  was  at  Canso,  in  Nova 
Scotia,  where  he  released  several  American  prison- 

54 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

ers,  who  promptly  joined  his  crew.  He  also  took 
and  burned  three  vessels  belonging  to  the  Cai^e 
Breton  fishery,  and  brought  away  a  fourth  with  a 
cargo  of  salt  fish.  The  other  descent  was  on  Isle 
Madame,  where  he  destroyed  a  number  of  fishing- 
smacks,  dispersed  the  Tory  garrison,  and  captured 
several  stands  of  arms,  with  a  considerable  quantity 
of  ammunition. 

Limitations  of  space  alone  forbid  greater  detail  of 
these  interesting  operations,  the  chief  value  of 
which,  after  all,  was  the  fact  that  they  served  to  call 
public  attention  to  the  remarkable  character  of  the 
man,  and  thereby  to  pave  the  way  for  exploits  of 
broader  significance.  This  character  and  these  pos- 
sibilities of  usefulness  on  the  part  of  Jones  have 
been  surveyed  by  Alfred  Mahan  in  a  way  that  leaves 
little  task  for  any  other  pen.  In  a  paper  on  "  John 
Paul  Jones  in  the  Revolution  "  {Scrihyier's  llagazine 
for  July,  1898),  Captain  Mahan  sums  up  this  little 
cruise  as  follows ; 

What  is  chiefly  interesting  in  these  incidents,  trivial  in 
their  immediate  results,  is  the  clear  impression  left  upon 
his  mind  of  the  essential  importance  of  a  navy  to  the 
American  cause,  and  that  the  best  use  to  be  made  of  the 
small  force  that  could  be  put  afloat  was  to  direct  it,  not  so 
much  upon  the  enemy's  commerce  at  sea,  in  transit,  as 
upon  his  coasts  and  commercial  stations,  where  his  ship- 
ping would  be  found  congregated,  with  insufficient  local 
protection.  Commerce-destroying,  to  use  the  modern 
phrase  for  an  age-long  practice,  is  a  wide  term,  covering 
many  different  methods  of  application.  In  essence,  it  is  a 
blow  at  the  communications,  at  the  resources,  of  a  country; 
in  system,  it  should  be  pursued  not  by  random  prowling, 

55 


PAUL   JOXES 

by  individual  ships  for  individual  enemies,  as  they  pass  to 
and  fro,  but  by  dispatching  adequate  force  to  important 
centres,  where  the  hostile  shipping  for  any  reason  is  known 
to  accumulate.  From  his  experience  as  a  mariner,  and 
from  his  habits  of  observation  and  reflection,  Jones  knew 
in  his  day  that  there  were  many  such  exposed  points  in  the 
British  dominions,  on  their  coasts.  Small  squadrons  di- 
rected upon  them  could  do  a  maximum  amount  of  injury ; 
for  the  shipping  caught  in  a  defenceless  port  would  be  with- 
out the  power  of  escape,  and  could  be  destroyed  also  Avith- 
out  embarrassment  concerning  the  disposition  of  prisoners, 
who  would  need  only  to  be  landed.  Let  a  single  ship  of 
war — commerce-destroyer — meet  twenty  or  thirty  merchant- 
ships  at  sea,  he  can  take  but  a  few  ;  the  rest  scatter  and 
escape,  and  the  prisoners  must  be  cared  for.  Corner  the 
same  squadron  in  port,  and  neither  difficulty,  as  a  rule, 
exists.  Moreover,  Jones's  plan  contemplated  destruction, 
not  capture ;  injury  to  the  enemy,  not  prize-money  pri- 
marily. The  latter  he  recognized  as  a  necessary  concession 
to  the  sordid  weakness  of  the  mass  of  mankind ;  for  himself, 
glory,  distinction,  was  the  prime  motive.  This  is  satisfac- 
torily shown,  not  only  by  the  general  utterances  of  his 
letters,  which  might  be  forced,  but  by  his  plans  and  his 
acts.  Self-seeking  in  him  took  the  shape  of  loving  mili- 
tary success,  not  money.  .  .  .  Jones  was  not  called 
upon — more  is  the  pity — to  play  a  part  in  the  great  navy, 
but  to  adapt  very  limited  means  to  the  attainment  of  con- 
siderable ends. 

In  this  brief — and,  for  him,  quite  casual — survey, 
Captain  Mahan  practically  exhausts  general  analysis 
of  the  perceptions,  the  aims,  the  sense  of  limitatious, 
and  the  springs  of  efTort  that  made  the  career  of 
Paul  Jones.  And  his  survey,  aside  from  its  intrinsic 
value,  derives  incalculable  historical  worth  from  the 
fact  that  it  bears  the  impress  of  an  authority  on  the 

56 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

annals  and  the  ethics  alike  of  Sea-Power,  universally 
accepted  as  final. 

Two  kinds  of  news  greeted  Jones  on  his  arrival 
in  port.  One  was  a  letter  from  Thoraas  Jefferson 
enclosing  his  commission  as  Captain  in  the  Conti- 
nental Navy,  by  act  of  Congress.  The  other  was  a 
letter  or  letters  from  his  trustees  and  agents  in  Vir- 
ginia, the  Frazier  Brothers,  informing  him  that 
during  the  month  of  July  previous  his  plantation 
had  been  utterly  ravaged  by  an  expedition  of 
British  and  Tories  under  Lord  Dunmore  ;  all  his 
buildings,  including  his  mill,  burned  to  the  ground ; 
his  wharf  demolished,  his  live  stock  killed,  and  every 
one  of  his  able-bodied  slaves  of  both  sexes  carried 
off  to  Jamaica  to  be  sold.  The  enemy  had  also 
destroyed  the  growing  crops,  cut  down  the  fruit- 
trees  ;  in  short,  the  Messrs.  Frazier  informed.him 
nothing  was  left  of  his  once  prosperous  and  valuable 
plantation  but  the  bare  ground. 

His  comment  on  this  affair  is  characteristic. 
Writing  to  Mr.  Hewes  and  enclosing  copies  of  the 
Messrs.  Fraziers'  letter,  he  says : 

.  .  .  This  is,  of  course,  a^  part  of  the  fortunes  of 
war.  I  accept  the  extreme  animosity  displayed  by  Lord 
Dunmore  as  a  compliment  to  the  sincerity  of  my  attach- 
ment to  the  cause  of  liberty.  His  lordship  is  entitled  to 
his  own  conception  of  civilized  warfare.  He  and  his  know 
where  I  am  and  what  I  am  doing.  They  can  affect  me  only 
by  ravage  behind  my  back.  I  do  not  complain  of  that. 
But  I  most  sadly  deplore  the  fate  of  my  poor  negroes.  The 
plantation  was  to  them  a  home,  not  a  place  of  bondage. 
Their  existence  was  a  species  of  grown-up  childhood,  not 
slavery.    Now  they  are  torn  away  and  carried  off  to  die 

57 


PAUL   JOXES 

under  the  pestilence  and  the  lash  of  Jamaica  cane-fields, 
and  the  price  of  their  poor  bodies  will  swell  the  pockets 
of  English  slave-traders.  For  this  cruelty  to  these  inno- 
cent, harmless  people  I  hope  some  time,  somehow  to  find 
opportunity  to  exact  a  reckoning. 

You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  letter  of  William  Frazier, 
Esquire,  that  my  good  and  faithful  old  overseer,  Duncan 
Macbean,  escaped  the  clutches  of  Lord  Dunmore  and  has 
joined  General  Morgan's  Riflemen.  He  has,  I  presume, 
taken  with  him  the  fine  Lancaster  rifle  of  my  late  brother. 
It  is  the  best  rifle  I  know  of  in  Virginia,  and  if  Duncan  has 
it,  all  is  well.  It  could  not  be  held  in  steadier  hands  or 
sighted  by  a  surer  eye.  For  manj'  years  Duncan  has  had  no 
equal  as  a  deer-stalker  in  the  Tidewater  country.  The  old 
Highlander  is  now  close  to  three-score  years,  and  always 
limps  a  little  with  his  old  wound  of  Braddock's  defeat ; 
but  he  is  hale  and  hearty  and  many  good  fighting  years  are 
left  to  him.  As  I  have  not  the  honor  to  knoAv  General 
Morgan  personally,  I  hope  you  will  kindly  mention  old 
Duncan  Macbean  to  him  in  my  behalf  and  with  my  best 
recommendations. 

I  am  now  more  than  ever  glad  that  I  brought  with  me 
my  two  black  boys,  Cato  and  Scipio.  They  were  well 
trained  in  river  and  bay  sailing  on  the  sloop,  and  now,  in 
the  two  cruises  we  have  made  in  the  Alfred  and  the  Provi- 
dence, they  are  become  prime  seamen.  Their  brothers  and 
sisters  have  been  carried  off  by  the  British  marauders,  and 
now  they  talk  of  nothing  but  vengeance.  I  have  given 
them  their  full  papers,  [meaning  papers  of  manumission] 
dated  even  with  my  Captain's  Commission,  October 
10,  1776. 

Another  most  serious  concern  to  me  is  that  this  destruc- 
tion cuts  off  my  source  of  revenue.  During  the  three  sea- 
eons  of  my  ownership,  1773,  1774,  and  1775,  the  net  income 
from  the  agriculture,  trade,  and  milling  of  the  plantation 
was  nearly  4,000  guineas  in  the  aggregate,  over  and  above 
all  necessary  outlays.     Since  my  coming  to  Philadelphia 

58 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFEED 

in  June  a  year  ago,  I  have  Hved  on  this  surplus,  having 
drawn  from  the  public  funds  only  £50  in  all  that  time ; 
and  this  not  for  pay  or  allowances,  but  to  reimburse  me 
for  expense  of  enlisting  seamen.  Since  July,  1775,  I  have 
drawn  to  Philadelphia  about  2,000  guineas  in  prime  bills. 
Of  this,  some  900  guineas  remain  on  balance  in  my  favor 
in  the  Bank  of  North  America  or  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Ross.  This  is  all  I  have  in  the  world  except  an  interest 
in  the  firm  of  Archibald  Stewart  &  Company  of  Tobago, 
which,  being  under  the  enemy's  control,  is  of  course 
unavailable. 

It  thus  appears  that  I  have  no  fortune  left  but  my  sword, 
and  no  prospect  except  that  of  getting  alongside  the 
enemy. 

INIr.  Jefferson's  letter  enclosing-  Paul  Jones's  com- 
mission as  captain  enclosed  also  a  list  of  captains 
as  decreed  by  Congress  in  the  resolution  dated  Oc- 
tober 10,  1776.  In  tliis  list  Jones  stood  number 
eighteen.  He  at  once  resented  this  injustice  in  his 
reply  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter,  and  he  forwarded 
copies  of  the  reply  to  Robert  Morris,  Joseph  Hewes, 
Philip  Livingston,  and  to  General  AVashington  him- 
self. 

In  this  letter  he  said  that,  according  to  all  re- 
ceived rules  of  precedence  in  civilized  navies,  he 
should  have  been  at  least  the  sixth  captain,  because 
the  law  of  December  22, 1775,  placed  only  five  cap- 
tains above  the  senior  lieutenant,  which  he  himself 
was  at  that  time ;  and  therefore  any  subsequent  ad- 
dition to  the  number  of  captains  should  have  been 
made  in  view  of  his  prescriptive  right  to  the  first 
lineal  promotion.  This,  he  urged,  was  simply  a 
matter  of  precedence  or  seniority,  according  to  law 
made  by  the  Congress  itself,  and  any  departure  from 

59 


PAUL   JOXES 

it  must  stultify  its  authors.     To  this  reasoning  he 
added,  with  a  trace  of  bitterness : 

Surveying  the  names  and  locations  of  the  twelve  captains 
who  have  been  graciously  appointed  to  supersede  me  while 
I  was  afloat  in  the  Providence  and  therefore  not  in  position 
to  plead  my  own  cause,  I  perceive  that  nine  of  them  hail 
from  New  England.  This  gives  rise  to  a  suspicion  in  my 
mind  that  Mr.  Adams  may  have  taken  advantage  of  my 
absence  cruising  against  the  enemy  and  thus  debarred  from 
watchfulness  of  the  happenings  ashore,  to  promote  at  small 
cost  to  himself  several  more  of  his  respectable  skippers  of 
AVest-India  lumber-droghers  at  my  expense.  If  their  fate 
shall  be  like  that  of  his  share  in  the  first  five  captains  last 
year,  I  can  only  say  that  Mr.  Adams  has  probably  provided 
for  a  greater  number  of  courts-martial  than  of  naval  vic- 
tories I  You  are  well  aware,  honored  sir,  that  I  have  no 
family  connections  at  my  back,  but  rest  my  case  wholly  on 
what  I  do.  As  I  survey  the  list  of  twelve  captains  who 
have  been  newly  jumped  over  me  by  the  act  of  October 
10th,  I  cannot  help  seeing  that  all  but  three  are  persons  of 
high  family  connection  in  the  bailiwick  of  Mr.  Adams  I 

Please  do  not  understand  me  to  complain.  I  only  state 
facts,  easily  proved.  ...  I  speak  now  only  in  the 
interests  of  method  and  regularity  of  procedure.     .     .     . 

The  17th  of  October,  by  the  next  post,  he  wrote  to 
Kobert  Morris  as  follows : 

.  .  .  It  is  to  the  last  degree  distressing  to  contem- 
plate the  existing  state  and  so-called  establishment  of  our 
naval  force.  The  common  class  of  mankind — sailors  in 
particular — are  actuated  by  no  nobler  principle  than  that 
of  self-interest,  of  gain,  of  personal  advantage.  This  is 
what  determines  the  choice  of  all  the  fearless  adventurers, 
the  hardy  seamen,  the  whalemen,  etc.,  all  along  this  coast, 

60 


THE  PEOVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

teeming  as  it  is  with  the  highest  quality  of  fighting  sailors, 
to  enlist  by  choice  in  privateers  rather  than  in  our  Conti- 
nental men-of-war.  Therefore,  unless  the  personal  emolu- 
ment or  chance  of  it  for  individual  seamen  shipping  in  our 
navy  can  be  made  superior  or  at  least  equal  to  that  in 
privateers,  it  can  never  become  respectable ;  it  certainly 
cannot  become  formidable.  .  .  .  The  British  Navy, 
our  foe,  best  regulated  and  most  firmly  established  of  any 
in  the  world,  gives  to  its  crews  the  whole  value  of  all  prizes. 
Holding  this  practical  fact  in  view,  I  need  use  no  argument 
to  convince  so  sensible  a  statesman  as  yourself  of  the  neces- 
sity of  making  the  emoluments  of  our  Regular  Navy  sea- 
men equal  if  not  superior  to  theirs. 

We  have  had  proof  that  a  navy  may  be  officered  on 
almost  any  terms,  though  we  cannot  be  sure,  without  the 
hard  trial  of  cruising  or  of  battle,  or  both,  that  the  officers 
will  be  equal  to  their  commissions.  But,  if  mistakes  be 
made  in  selecting  officers,  they  can  be  corrected  by  subse- 
quent courts-martial,  dismissals,  or  even  shootings ;  as  in 
the  case  of  the  English  Admiral  Byng  some  years  ago  in  the 
last  French  war,  with  the  history  of  which  you  are  familiar. 

This  is  not  true  of  the  common  sailor-men.  I  have  been 
dealing  with  sailors  ever  since  my  thirteenth  year  and  ever 
since  I  was  seventeen  years  old  I  have,  in  one  rank  or  an- 
other, commanded  them.  I  trust  you  will  not  deem  me 
egotistical  if  I  say  that  such  experience  qualifies  me  to  get 
along  fairly  well  with  sailors.  I  like  them  and  I  know  how 
to  make  them  like  me.  And  with  sailors,  as  they  average- 
up,  liking  a  commander  and  being  of  a  will  to  fight  for  him 
to  the  last  gasp,  are  quite  the  same  thoughts.  I  Avill  give 
you  an  illustration.  In  the  Alfred,  where  I  was  only  first 
lieutenant,  there  were  many  fioggings.  Every  one  was 
ordered  by  Captain  Saltonstall.  ...  In  the  little  Prov- 
idence, with  107  hands  all  told,  from  May  10  to  October  7, 
the  period  of  our  whole  cruise,  the  gratings  were  not  rigged 
a  single  time  for  flogging ;  there  was  no  cat-o'-nine  tails 
aboard,  because  I  threw  the  only  one  we  had  in  the  sea  the 

61 


PAUL   JONES 

first  day  out,  ana  I  never  punished  any  man  more  than 
talking  to  him  like  a  father  or,  in  extreme  cases,  stopping 
his  grog  for  three  days.  .  .  .  The  comparative  results 
of  the  two  cruises  speak  louder  than  any  words  at  my 
command  in  commentary  on  the  two  modes  of  exercising 
authority. 

The  regulation  as  to  prize  money  made  by  the  Congress, 
January  6th,  1776,  by  which  the  Government  reserves  one- 
third  is,  in  my  judgment,  unwise.  If  our  enemies,  with  the 
best  established  and  most  formidable  navy  in  the  universe, 
have  found  it  expedient  to  assign  all  prizes  to  the  cap- 
tors, how  much  more  is  such  policy  essential  to  our  infant 
fleet ;  but  I  need  not  use  argument  to  convince  you  that 
the  emoluments  of  service  in  our  navy  ought  to  be  made 
equal  if  not  superior  to  that  of  our  enemies. 

One  more  suggestion  and  I  am  done  :  Thus  far  officers 
have  been  appointed  on  recommendation  of  members  of 
the  Congress,  their  qualifications  being  taken  for  granted. 
The  results  have  been  by  no  means  happy.  Every  can- 
didate for  commission  should  be  examined  by  a  board 
composed  of  persons  qualified  to  judge  as  betw^een  fitness 
and  unfitness  in  all  respects.  This  would  prevent  persons 
creeping  into  commissions  without  ability  or  qualifica- 
tion, which  has  to  my  certain  knowledge  been  true  in 
several  cases.  Then  promotion  itself  should  in  the  main 
be  regulated  by  seniority  with  only  such  exceptions  as 
may  become  justly  due  for  display  of  extraordinary  merit, 
or  achievement  above  the  common  run.  Were  such  regu- 
lations adopted  and  practiced  in  our  navy  they  would  pre- 
vent numerous  disputes  and  even  duels,  Avhich  in  the 
present  hap-hazard  procedure  will  be  unavoidable. 

I  enclose  herewith  copies  of  list  of  prizes,  ship's  log, 
and  roster  of  my  crew,  which  please  lay  before  the  Hon- 
orable Committee,  to  be  joined  to  my  official  report  dated 
7tli  inst.  Also  please  cause  to  be  appended  to  my  said 
report  the  following  : 

"Of  the  conduct  of  my   officers  and  men  I  can  hardly 

62 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

speak  without  emotion.  Some  conception  of  the  quality 
of  my  seamen  may  be  formed  when  the  fact  is  known 
tliat,  of  the  eight  prizes  sent  in,  the  last  three  had  as 
prize-masters  the  following  named  able  seamen,  as  I  had 
no  more  officers  of  any  grade  to  spare,  five  out  of  eight 
having  been  already  sent  in,  thus  leaving  me  only  three 
officers  in  the  Providence.  The  able  seamen  whose  knowl- 
edge of  navigation  and  other  prime  qualifications  led  me 
to  entrust  command  of  valuable  prizes  to  them  are  Na- 
thaniel Fanning,  of  Salem,  Nathan  Sargent,  of  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Henry  Gardner,  of  Nantucket.  They 
all  brought  their  prizes  in  safely,  as  follows  :  Mr.  Fan- 
ning, the  brigantine  Kingston  Packet,  from  Jamaica ;  Mr, 
Sargent,  the  brigantine  Defiance,  from  Isle  of  Jersey ;  Mr. 
Gardner,  the  brig-sloop  Portland,  whaler,  from  Hull, 
England. 

'*  Where  all  behaved  so  well  I  cannot  bring  myself  to 
single  out  individuals.  If  question  should  be  asked  in 
the  Committee  why  no  special  mention  is  made  I  offer 
the  ship's  roster  as  a  whole  with  the  remark  that  their 
conduct  was  uniformly  such  as  to  admit  of  no  distinc- 
tions. However,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  speak  of  three, 
who,  belonging  to  races  considered  inferior,  may  be  more 
entitled  to  credit  than  their  shipmates  of  the  higher  race. 
These  are  Anthony  Jeremiah,  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  a 
full-blood  Narragansett  Indian,  and  Cato  Jones  and  Scipio 
Jones,  negro  boys,  formerly  my  own  slaves,  but  set  free 
by  me  on  the  10th  of  this  month." 

The  foregoing"  suggestions  and  recommendations 
of  Panl  Jones  were  at  once  taken  under  considera- 
tion by  the  Marine  Committee.  On  October  30, 1776, 
only  thirteen  days  after  the  date  of  his  last  letter 
to  Robert  Morris,  a  resolution  was  adopted  in  com- 
mittee partially  embodying  his  views  as  to  prize 
money.     On  the  30th  of  November  following  a  new 

63 


PAUL   JONES 

list  of  captains  was  prepared,  embodying  a  rear- 
rangement of  lineal  rank,  in  which  Jones's  name  was 
placed  next  after  that  of  Nicholas  Biddle,  or  the 
sixth  in  line.  This  resolution,  however,  was  not 
considered  by  Congress.  The  "  political  skippers," 
as  Jones  used  to  call  them,  had  influence  enough  to 
smother  it  in  a  pigeon-hole. 

The  first  response  to  the  report  and  letters  of 
Jones  in  relation  to  his  cruise  in  the  Providence 
came  in  the  shape  of  an  order  from  the  Marine  Com- 
mittee to  take  command  of  the  Alfred,  which  had 
been  partly  refitted  at  NcAvport  during  the  summer, 
and,  if  he  could  enlist  a  sufficient  number  of  seamen, 
make  a  short  cruise  to  the  eastward  in  that  ship, 
with  the  Providence  in  company.  This  order 
reached  him  on  the  4th  of  November,  1776.  About 
two  hundred  seamen  were  available,  and  Jones  did 
not  wait  to  enlist  more.  He  assigned  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  men  to  the  Alfred  and  sixty  to 
the  Providence,  with  such  stores  and  outfit  as  he 
could  get,  and  on  November  7th  put  to  sea.  This 
cruise  lasted  only  thirty-three  days,  terminating 
with  the  arrival  of  the  Alfred  and  Providence  in 
Boston  Harbor,  December  10,  1776.  But  during 
that  short  time  Jones  had  captured  seven  ships  of 
the  enemy. 

Two  of  these  were  the  most  important  and  valu- 
able prizes  yet  made  by  the  Continental  Navy. 
They  were  the  Mellish,  an  armed  transport  bound 
for  Halifax  and  New  York  from  London,  with  quar- 
termaster's supplies  for  the  British  Army  in  the 
Colonies,  and  the  Bideford,  bound  for  Quebec,  with 
similar  supplies  for  the  forces  then  assembling  in 

64 


THE  PROVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

Canada  under  Sir  Guy  Carleton.  These  ships  were 
taken  off  the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland.  They 
had  been  under  convoy  of  the  Milford,  a  British 
frigate  of  thirty-two  guns,  but  had  separated  from 
her  in  a  gale,  and  so  fell  easy  prey  to  the  Alfred  and 
Providence.  When  Jones  ascertained  the  value  of 
these  prizes  he  decided  to  convoy  them  into  Boston, 
partly  because  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for 
further  cruising,  partly  because  his  ships  were 
short-manned  and  poorly  stored,  but  mainly  because 
he  wished  to  exhaust  his  power  of  preventing  their 
recapture.  Two  days  after  the  capture,  when  the 
Alfred  and  Providence  had  shaiDed  their  course  for 
Boston  with  the  Mellish,  Bideford,  and  two  lesser 
prizes  under  convoy,  the  Milford  hove  in  sight,  ac- 
companied by  another  armed  transport  and  letter- 
of -mar que,  and  at  once  hauled  up  in  chase  of  Jones 
and  his  prizes.  Signalling  to  the  Providence  and 
the  prizes  to  crowd  all  sail  to  the  southward  and 
westward,  Jones  dropped  to  leeward  in  the  Alfred 
until  he  could  make  out  the  force  of  the  enemy. 
This  he  did  before  dark.  The  Milford  was  a  dull 
sailer,  which  gave  Jones  choice  of  position ;  for 
the  Alfred,  feeble  as  she  was  in  other  respects  as 
a  man-of-war,  sailed  fast,  and  was  very  weatherly. 
He  decided  to  keep  between  the  Milford  and  his 
prizes  during  the  night  and  next  day,  or  as  long  as 
there  was  danger  of  recapture,  but  not  to  risk  the 
chances  of  an  engagement. 

The  Milford  succeeded  in  keeping  up  the  chase 

all  night  and  the  next  day,  and  actually  did  retake 

one  of  the  prizes — the  least  im^Dortant  of  all — which, 

having  sprung  her  foretopmast,  and  being  a  dull- 

VoL.  I.— 5  65 


PAUL   JONES 

sailing-  brigantine,  fell  astern.  But  the  Mellisli  and 
Bideford  escax3ed,  and  Jones  took  tliem  into  Boston 
the  10th  of  December,  1776. 

His  first  act,  after  dropping  anchor,  was  to  write 
a  letter  to  Bobert  Morris,  with  copy  to  Joseph 
Hewes,  explaining  why  he  had  declined  battle  with 
the  Milford.     In  it  he  says  : 

.  .  .  Tou  may,  perhaps,  think  it  strange  that  I  de- 
clined close  quarters  with  an  enemy's  ship  of  so  little  nomi- 
nal superiority  of  force  to  my  own.  But  I  think,  Avhen  you 
have  read  my  reasons,  you  will  approve  my  discretion.  A 
little  before  sundown  I  made  the  enemj^  out  to  be  a  thirty- 
two  of  the  regular  rate,  and  her  pace  shoAved  her  to  be  an 
indifferent  sailer.  I  knew  that  she  must  carry  twenty-two 
long  twelves  on  her  gundeck  with  ten  to  twelve  long  sixes 
above,  and  I  also  knew  that  all  British  ships  on  the  station 
or  in  convoy  were  likely  to  be  full-manned. 

I  had  in  the  Alfred  ten  long  twelves  and  fourteen  nines, 
and,  after  manning  the  prizes,  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
ojRficers  and  men  Avere  left  at  stations.  The  wind  was 
north-northwest,  with  snow  squalls  now  and  then,  and  the 
sea  cross  and  chopi^y.  There  Avere  also  signs  of  a  haul  of 
the  wind  to  north-northeast,  which  in  that  latitude  at  the 
time  of  year  would  mean  anything  from  a  stiff  blow  to  a 
living  gale  by  daylight. 

I  felt  that  it  would  be  wrong  in  such  conditions  to  ask 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  men  in  a  ship  of  only  twenty- 
four  guns  to  stand  alongside  a  thirty-two  of  regular  rate 
and  battery  Avith  surely  OA'er  tAvo  hundred  in  her  com- 
plement. I  felt  that  it  Avould  be  *  *  asking  too  much 
of  the  cards, ' '  as  we  say  in  Avhist  Avhen  Ave  have  a  poor 
hand. 

So  I  ran,  and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  confess  it.  But  I 
brought  my  prizes  safe  in,  and  I  did  not  submit  the  poor 
old  AUred  and  her  short  creAv  to  the  chance  of  being  sunk 

66 


THE  PKOVIDENCE  AND  THE  ALFRED 

and  butchered  by  what  I  considered  a  foe  so  superior  that 
battle  with  him  would  be  hopeless. 

When  her  cargo  was  "broken  out"  in  Boston, the 
Mellish  was  found  to  contain  ten  thousand  comiDlete 
uniforms,  including"  cloaks  or  great-coats,  boots, 
socks,  and  woollen  shirts,  for  the  winter  supply  of 
General  Plowe's  army;  seven  thousand  pairs  of 
blankets  ;  one  thousand  four  hundred  tents ;  six 
hundred  saddles  with  complete  cavalry  equipments ; 
one  million  seven  hundred  thousand  rounds  of  fixed 
ammunition  (musket  cartridges);  a  large  quantity 
of  medical  stores;  forty  cases  of  surgical  instru- 
ments ;  all  priceless  and  wholly  unattainable  by  any 
other  means  in  the  then  state  of  our  resources. 

The  Mellish  also  had  on  board  a  considerable  as- 
sortment of  other  stores,  and  forty-six  soldiers  who 
were  recruits  sent  out  to  join  various  British  regi- 
ments then  serving  in  the  Colonies — or,  as  this  was 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  we  may  as 
well  say,  "  in  the  United  States." 

The  other  large  prize,  the  Bideford,  carried  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  fur  overcoats  for  the  use  of 
the  British  force  in  Canada  ;  eleven  thousand  pairs 
of  blankets  intended  partly  for  the  British  troops  in 
Canada,  and  partly  for  the  Indians  then  in  British 
pay  on  our  northern  frontier;  one  thousand  small- 
bore guns  of  the  type  then  known  as  the  "  Indian- 
trade  smooth-bore  "  with  hatchets,  knives,  and  boxes 
of  flints  in  proportion,  to  arm  the  Indians  ;  together 
with  eight  light  six-pounder  field  guns  and  complete 
harness  and  other  equipage  for  two  four-gun 
batteries  of  horse-artillery.     The  Bideford  also  had 

67 


PAUL   JONES 

on  board  some  wines  and  otlier  table  supplies  per- 
sonally consigned  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  and,  withal,  a 
case  of  fine  Galway  duelling-  pistols  for  some  British 
officer  then  serving  in  Canada.  It  is  of  record  that 
Jones  confiscated  for  his  own  use  and  behoof  a  share 
of  the  wines  and  the  case  of  pistols. 

On  his  arrival  in  Boston  Jones  promptly  reported 
his  cruise  and  its  results  to  the  Marine  Committee. 
In  due  course  of  mail  he  received  orders  to  turn  over 
the  command  of  the  Alfred  to  Captain  Elisha  Hin- 
man,  and  report  forthwith  to  Philadeli)hia  for  duty 
in  connection  with  the  Board  of  Advice  to  the  Com- 
mittee, which  had  just  been  constituted.  Pursuant 
to  this  order  he  left  Boston  the  5th  of  January,  1777, 
and  reported  for  duty  at  Philadelphia  on  the  14th. 

The  other  members  of  this  board  were  Captains 
James  Nicholson,  Nicholas  Biddle,  John  Barry,  and 
Thomas  Piead.  The  board  was  also  ordered  to  draw 
up  a  plan  for  examination  of  officers  on  promotion, 
and  also  of  applicants  for  commissions  in  the  lower 
grades.  A  resolution  was  also  passed  providing 
that  "  from  and  after  the  date  hereof  no  appointment 
shall  be  made  from  civil  life  to  grade  above  that  of 
third  lieutenant,  and  promotion  from  one  grade  to 
the  next  higher  shall  be  by  seniority  unless  the 
officer  next  senior  shall  fail  to  pass  the  required 
examination,  when  the  officer  next  junior  shall  be 
called  up  for  examination,  and  the  first  officer,  so 
junior,  to  pass  the  required  examination  shall  be 
promoted  to  the  next  higher  grade." 


68 


CHAPTER  IV 
IN   COMMAND   OF  THE   RANGER 

Captain  Jones  stayed  in  Philadelpliia  on  duty 
with  the  Board  of  Advice  from  the  middle  of  January 
till  June,  1777.    During-  that  period,  in  the  month  of 
April,  he  went  to  Virginia  and  visited  his  ravaged 
plantation.     He  found  there  nothing  but  the  bare 
ground  and  two  or  three  cabins  which  sheltered  a 
dozen  or  so  of  his  slaves,  who  were  either  too  old 
and  infirm  or  too  young  and  valueless  as  field  hands 
to  be  worth  Lord  Dunmore's  trouble  of  taking  away. 
All  else  was  gone.     Nothing  remained  but  charred 
and    blackened    ruins    of  mansion,   mill,   tobacco- 
houses,  wharf,  and  store-house— as  he  has  described 
it—"  the  completest  wreck  imaginable  of  any  kind 
of  possessions  that  were  on  the  land  and  therefore 
could  not  be  scuttled  and  sunk  in  the  sea  !  " 

But  he  did  not  repine.  He  simply  turned  his  back 
on  the  scene  of  desolation,  after  doing  what  he  could 
to  provide  for  the  remnant  of  his  slaves,  and  went 
back  to  Philadelphia  to  renew  his  efforts  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war. 

"  He  was  more  cheerful  when  he  came  back  than  I 
believed  he  would  be,"  writes  Mr.  Hewes  in  his 
diary.  "  He  had  little  to  say  about  his  losses,  but 
much  to  say  about  providing  opportunity  for  him- 
self to  get  alongside  a  ship  of  the  enemy." 

69 


PAUL   JONES 

His  pet  project  now  was  a  cruise  in  European 
waters.  He  wanted  to  get  on  the  British  coast  "s\dth 
a  ship,  or,  better,  a  squadron,  of  some  force.  He 
argued  with  his  colleagues  on  the  board,  with  the 
committee,  and  with  every  member  of  the  Congress 
whom  he  could  reach,  that  the  time  had  come  to 
show  our  flag  and  demonstrate  our  existence  as  a 
naval  power  in  European  seas.  He  said  that  cruises 
off  our  own  coast,  while  they  might  annoy  the  enemy 
and  result  in  capture  of  his  small  ships  and  trans- 
ports from  time  to  time,  would  still  be  unheard  of 
in  Europe,  and  would  therefore  add  nothing  to  our 
prestige  as  a  new  nation. 

His  arguments,  coupled  with  the  successes  he  had 
already  achieved  in  independent  commands,  and, 
above  all,  by  reason  of  the  vehement  earnestness 
with  which  he  advocated  his  projects,  produced  a 
profound  impression  upon  all  who  heard  him.  La- 
faj^ette,  then  recently  arrived  in  this  countr}^  took  a 
special  fancy  to  him  because  he  could  talk  and  wa-ite 
Erench  fluently,  which  was  at  that  time  a  rare  ac- 
complishment among  even  the  most  liberally  ed- 
ucated Americans.  It  may  be  remarked  that  of  the 
twenty-four  captains  then  on  the  Continental  Navy 
list,  only  three  besides  Jones  could  speak  French  at 
all — Manley,  Biddle,  and  Wickes — and  Jones  was  the 
only  one  who  could  both  speak  and  write  it  fluently 
or  gracefully. 

Lafaj'Ctte,  with  his  shipload  of  supplies — by  a 
roundabout  voyage  from  Passages  in  Spain,  osten- 
sibly to  Porto  Pdco — had  arrived  at  the  port  of 
Georgetown,  8.  C,  April  19,  1777.  Pie  journej^ed 
thence  by  land  to  Philadelphia.    It  strangely  hap- 

70 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE   RANGER 

pened  that  Lafayette,  on  his  way  from  South  Car- 
olina to  Philadelphia,  and  Paul  Jones,  on  his  re- 
turn to  the  same  destination  also  by  land  from  his 
ruined    plantation,  reached    Alexandria   the    same 
day,  at  noon,  and  stopped  at  the  same  tavern.     La- 
fayette had  with  him  the  Baron  de  Kalb  and  several 
other  French,  German,  and  Polish  officers.     Lafay- 
ette  could  express  himself  fairly   in  English,   as 
could  de  Kalb  ;  but  the  others  could  not.     Their  in- 
terpreter was  a  very  poor  one.    The  meeting  took 
place  in  consequence  of  the  efforts  of  Lafayette  and 
de  Kalb  to  straighten  out  some  misunderstanding 
about   the  relay  of  horses.     The  Marquis  himself 
thus  described  the  incident  in  a  personal  reminis- 
cence during  his  visit  to  this  country  in  1824,  as  nar- 
rated by  Professor  Wentworth  in  a  magazine  article 
published  in  1826:* 

A  slender,  black-haired,  black-eyed,  swarthy  gentleman 
in  a  naval  uniform  and  of  most  martial  and  distinguished 
bearing,  approached  and  said  in  perfect  French, 

''Pardon,  Monsieur ;  il me  semble  que,  peut-etre,  je  peux 
vous  aider.     Entel  cas,  commandez,  s'il  vous  plait." 

Delighted  to  hear  my  mother  tongue  so  unexpectedly  and 
so  opportunely  spoken,  I  informed  the  gentleman  who  we 
were  and  asked  whom  I  might  have  the  honor  to  address,  to 

*The  article  in  which  the  circumstances  of  this  meeting  as  here 
narrated  were  given  grew  out  of  the  visit,  a  year  and  a  half  previous,  of 
Lafayette  to  this  country,  and  was  found  by  the  author  in  the  Gardner 
Collection  of  newspaper  clippings  and  magazine  papers.  In  the  absence, 
so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  discover,  of  any  reference  to  the  incident 
in  the  literary  remains  of  Lafayette  or  Jones,  the  historical  accuracy  of 
the  anecdote  may  be  open  to  question ;  but  it  has  been  thought  worth 
while  to  retain  it  on  the  authority  of  Professor  Wentworth,  who  claims 
to  have  heard  the  story  from  Lafayette  himself. 

71 


PAUL   JONES 

which  he  replied:  **J'ai  I'honneur  d'etre  capitaine  de 
frigate  de  la  marine  des  Etats  Unis  ;  et  on  m'appelle  Paul 
Jones  ;  a  votre  ser\'ice,  Monsieur. ' ' 

Profoundly  acknowledging  his  courtesy,  I  at  once  turned 
over  to  Captain  Paul  Jones  the  task  of  composing  our 
difficulties  and  instantly  discovered  that  he  was  a  captain 
in  fact  as  well  as  by  title.  The  people  there  seemed  to 
know  him  well.  He  assumed  an  air  of  easy,  though  quite 
imperious,  mastery  of  the  situation,  and  in  a  very  short 
time  our  cavalcade  was  ready  to  set  out.  He  had  an 
appointment  to  dine  that  evening  with  friends  in  Alexan- 
dria, but  upon  my  invitation  to  join  our  party,  he  hastily 
sent  a  messenger  to  cancel  the  engagement  * '  by  reason  of  a 
sudden  and  unexpected  pressure  of  public  duty  of  grave 
importance,"  and  journeyed  with  us  thence  to  Philadel- 
phia. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  friendship  of  the 
closest  nature,  lasting  for  life.  It  was  a  universal 
friendship,  enduring  not  only  throughout  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  but  extending  to  close  association 
in  the  earlier  scenes  of  the  French  Revolution  a 
dozen  years  later.  Lafayette's  influence  began 
with  the  day  of  his  arrival  at  the  seat  of  government. 
He  did  not  come  as  an  adventurer  seeking  employ- 
ment. He  brought  with  him  a  shipload  of  needed 
supplies,  and  back  of  that  the  financial  resources 
of  an  estate  than  which  there  were  few  in  France 
richer.  And,  above  all,  he  came  as  the  personal 
representative  of  the  fast-growing  Liberal  party  in 
France,  whose  influence  was  soon  to  cast  the  sword 
and  the  fleets  of  that  great  monarchy  into  our  side 
of  the  scale  of  war. 

Lafayette  enthusiastically  approved  Jones's  plan 
of  invading  British  waters,  and  was  among  the  first 


IN   COMMAND    OF   THE    RANGER 

to  suggest  fitting  out  a  squadron  of  French  ships  in 
French  ports,  to  sail  under  the  flag  and  by  commis- 
sion of  the  United  States.  By  this  expedient, 
Lafayette  argued,  two  vital  ends  would  be  attained : 
First,  the  ships  would  be  larger,  more  powerful,  and 
better  equipioed  than  any  the  United  States  could 
then  provide.  Second,  and  of  still  greater  impor- 
tance in  the  long  run,  such  operations  would  embroil 
France  with  Great  Britain  and  force  to  a  speedy 
determination  the  question  of  an  open  alliance.  And 
he  declared  everywhere  and  all  the  time  that  Paul 
Jones  was  the  only  captain  in  the  American  Navy 
qualified  to  undertake  the  mission  ;  that  by  his 
knowledge  of  the  French  language  he  fulfilled  the 
first  and  greatest  prerequisite ;  because,  Lafayette 
said,  it  would  be  perfectly  idle  to  send  a  captain 
over  there  who  would  need  an  interpreter.  "For 
the  rest,"  he  said,  *'  Captain  Jones  possesses  far 
beyond  any  other  officer  in  your  service  that  peculiar 
aplomb,  grace  of  manner,  charm  of  person,  and  dash 
of  character  always  required  to  captivate  the  French 
fancy."  * 

Of  the  thirteen  frigates  authorized  by  the  Con- 
gress December  13,  1775,  the  five  first  laid  down 
were  now  nearly  ready  for  service.  Among  them 
was  the  Trumbull,  thirty-two.  Jones  applied  for 
the  Trumbull,  urging  that  while  Lafayette's  view  as 
to  the  policy  of  obtaining  French  ships  was  sound 
in  the  broad  sense,  it  would  still  be  of  great  value 
to  show  in  their  ports  a  fine  new  frigate  like  the 
Trumbull,  as  a  sample  of  what  the  United  States 
could  do  in  the  way  of  naval  construction. 

*  Lafayette  to  Washington,  June  27,  1777. 
73 


PAUL   JONES 

Here  again  Jones  encountered  what  seemed  to  be 
liis  evil  genii,  Mr.  Adams  and  Dudley  Saltonstall. 
The  latter  had  now  so  far  emerged  from  the  conse- 
quences of  his  first  cruise  in  the  Alfred  as  to  aspire 
to  another  frigate  command,  and  of  course  Mr. 
Adams  was  at  his  back. 

There  was  a  curious  story  at  the  time  explanatory 
of  Mr.  Adams's  evident  personal  ill-will  toward  Paul 
Jones.  Mr.  Hewes  related  it  not  long  before  his 
death,  in  1779,  as  follows : 

Manj'  people  marvelled  at  the  pertinacity  of  Mr.  Adams's 
dislike  lor  Jones.  No  matter  what  the  captain  might 
achieve  or  how  his  exploits  might  be  appreciated  and 
praised  by  everybody  else,  and  none  was  more  cordial  in 
this  respect  than  the  commander-in-chief,  Washington 
himself — Mr.  Adams  would  see  no  good  in  him,  but  always 
insisted  that  he  was  '*  a  smooth,  plausible,  and  rather  capa- 
ble adventurer,  with  some  smattering  of  general  knowledge 
and  a  fair  command  of  French  and  Spanish,  due  wholly  to 
his  earlier  career  as  an  English  merchant  captain  trading 
to  the  West  India  Islands  and  Spanish  main ;  in  other 
words,  the  merest  accident, ' '  and  so  on  ad  libitum.  And 
above  all,  Mr.  Adams  maintained,  he  was  a  man  of  no  fam- 
ily connection  whatever. 

Finally,  the  explanation  came  out.  When  the  Congress 
reconvened  in  June,  1775,  Colonel  Carroll,  of  Maryland, 
came  to  Philadel^jhia  with  his  family,  in  great  state,  and 
leased  a  fine  house  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  near  General 
Mifflin's  at  the  Falls  of  Schuylkill.  Here  the  centre  of 
fashion  was  soon  established.  Shortly  after  Paul  Jones  ar- 
rived at  Philadelphia,  in  July,  1775,  he  was  a  guest  at  one 
of  Madame  Carroll's  parties,  and  Mr.  Adams  was  alsotliere. 
Mr.  Adams  was  nothing  if  not  pedantic.  In  the  course  of 
the  entertainment  he  essayed  to  relate  an  anecdote  of  Fon- 
tanelle  to  a  group  of  young  ladies,  among  whom  were  Mies 

74 


IN   COMMAND    OF   THE    RANGER 

Betty  Faulkner,  of  Virginia,  and  Miss  Josephine  Mayrant, 
of  South  Carolina.  Miss  Faulkner  had  been  educated  in 
France  and  Miss  Mayrant  belonged  to  one  of  the  Carolina 
Huguenot  families  in  which  French  was  retained  as  the 
domestic  tongue.  Mr.  Adams  related  his  anecdote  of  Fon- 
tanelle  in  French. 

When  he  was  gone,  Jones,  at  the  request  of  the  young 
ladies,  related  the  anecdote  correctly  both  as  to  text  and 
accent.  One  of  the  young  ladies  then  asked  Jones  what  he 
thought  of  Mr.  Adams's  French.  Jones  was  always  reckless 
with  liis  wit  and  more  than  once  in  his  career  sacrificed  an 
interest  for  the  sake  of  an  epigram.  On  this  occasion,  not 
reflecting  that  such  a  bon  mot  would  be  likely  to  find  repe- 
tition in  such  a  social  circle  as  that  was,  he  replied  with 
m.ock  gravity  : 

**La  cause  des  droits  de  I'homme,  Mesdemoiselles,  est, 
peut-etre,  bien  heureuse  en  ce  que  les  sentiments  politiques 
de  Monsieur  Adams  ne  sont  pas  a  1' anglais  egalement  a  son 
fran^ais  ;  car,  autrement,  il  serait,  facilement,  le  plus  grand 
Tory  du  pays ! ' ' 

Of  this  the  f olloAving  is  a  free  translation  :  * '  It  is  very 
fortunate,  perhaps,  ladies,  for  the  cause  of  human  rights, 
that  the  political  sentiments  of  Mr.  Adams  are  not  as  Eng- 
lish as  his  French  is  ;  because,  if  they  were,  he  would  be, 
easily,  the  greatest  Tory  in  the  land." 

This  delicious,  but  ill-judged,  satire  was  not  slow  in  reach- 
ing the  ears  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  he  ever  afterward  hated 
Paul  Jones  with  all  the  sturdy  hate  of  the  Puritan  nature 
when  its  vanity  is  wounded.  Maybe  other  men,  not  Puri- 
tans, would  have  hated  Jones,  too,  had  they  fallen  similar 
victims  to  his  pitiless  tongue. 

Be  tliis  as  it  may,  Captain  Saltoiistall  g-ot  the 
Trumbull.*    Jones  then   determined  to   appeal  to 

*  In  this  connection  there  is  an  entertaining  morsel  of  personal 
history  :  \Vlien  Ezek  Hopkins's  ill-starred  squadron  "  broke  up  at  New- 
port m  the  spring  of  1776  and  resolved  itself  into  a  series  of  courts-mar- 

75 


PAUL   JONES 

Washing-ton  in  person.  His  own  story  of  the  inter- 
view is  doubtless  the  best  that  could  be  written : 

When  I  entered  the  presence  of  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
I  found  with  him  Generals  Knox,  Wayne,  and  Greene,  and 
the  Marquis  de  Lafayette.  I  laid  my  case  before  him  with 
an  earnestness  which  my  recent  disappointment  about  the 
Trumbull  may  have  made  somewhat  vehement. 

Lafayette  and  Wayne  shared  my  feelings  and  partook  of 

tial,  dismissals,"  etc.,  Jones,  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Alfred,  prepared 
and  sent  to  the  Marine  Committee  charges  against  the  captain  of  that 
ship,  Dudley  Saltonstall,  accusing  him  of  cruelty  to  his  men,  discourtesy 
and  incivility  to  his  otficers,  incompetency  and  even  irresolution,  to  use 
no  harsher  term,  in  the  action  with  the  Glasgow. 

These  charges  were  suppressed  by  the  committee,  and  Captain  Salton- 
stall, though  relieved  from  command  for  a  considerable  period  under  cir- 
cumstances not  wholly  devoid  of  the  aspect  of  want  of  confidence  if  not 
disgrace,  escaped  the  court-martial  that  wrecked  some  of  his  brother- 
captains. 

Jones  was  appointed  to  the  Providence  soon  after  forwarding  these 
charges,  and  cruised  in  her  and  afterward  the  Alfred  until  the  following 
midwinter.  But  when  he  found  Saltonstall  in  his  way  again  in  the  spring 
of  1777,  he  determined  to  revive  his  charges  and  push  the  case  to  a  con- 
clusion. Having  kept  a  copy  of  the  charges,  he  drew  them  up  in  due 
form  again  with  some  additions  and  handed  them  to  Robert  Morris  with 
a  request  that  they  be  formally  laid  before  the  committee. 

Mr.  Morris  informed  him  that  the  afl'air  was  considered  closed  and 
could  not  be  reopened. 

Jones  then  rather  vigorously  informed  Mr.  Morris  that  if  he  could  not 
secure  appropriate  action  in  the  regular  way,  he  would  conceive  it  his 
duty  to  publish  the  facts  over  his  own  name  and  on  his  personal  respon- 
sibility ;  as  he  believed  the  public  entitled  to  know  what  kind  of  naval 
servant  they  had  in  Captain  Saltonstall. 

To  this  Mr.  Morris  demurred,  saying  it  could  have  no  result  but  to 
bring  on  a  duel  between  himself  and  Captain  Saltonstall ;  that  such  an 
affair  would  be  more  deplorable  than  anything  else  possibly  could  be,  as 
it  must  be  a  sorry  spectacle  to  see  the  officers  of  our  infant  navy  kill- 
ing each  other  when  there  were  so  many  enemies  of  the  country  to 
destroy. 

Jones  responded  that  if  Captain  Saltonstall  could  be  induced  to  take 

76 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE    RANGER 

my  spirit.  But  General  Washington,  calm  and  impertur- 
bable, walked  up  and  down,  mostly  listening,  but  now  and 
then  asking  a  question  or  uttering  a  syllable  of  assent.  He 
remained  in  this  mood  for  a  little  time  after  I  had  done. 
Then  approaching  me,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  said  : 
"  Captain  Jones,  you  have  conceived  the  right  project  and 
you  are  the  right  man  to  execute  it.  I  will  at  once  see 
members  of  the  Marine  Committee  and  insist  that  you  be 
forthwith  provided  with  the  best  means  at  their  disposal." 

that  course  he,  Jones,  should  by  no  means  consider  his  main  purpose 
hopelessly  defeated  ;  that  he  conceived  it  his  duty  to  rid  the  navy  of 
Captain  Saltonstall,  and  if  he  were  denied  the  opportunity  of  doing  it  in 
the  regular  way,  by  court-martial,  it  was  quite  immaterial  to  him  what 
other  way  must  be  resorted  to. 

Mr,  Morris,  amazed  at  this  fierce  outbreak,  inquired  if  Jones  had  taken 
any  advice  in  this  most  serious  affair.  Jones  answered  that  he  certainly 
had  taken  advice.  "  Of  whom,  pray  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Morris.  ''  Of  General 
Cadwalader  and  Captain  Biddle,  sir !  " 

"Bless me  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Morns,  "  the  two  fieriest  and  least  tract- 
able men  in  Pennsylvania.  Each  the  soul  of  honor  and  the  embodiment 
of  courage,  but  both  wholly  lacking  in  prudence  or  calm  judgment  where 
any  personal  issue  is  concerned.  They  will  always  give  you  advice  to 
fight,  which,  by  the  way,  you  yourself  need  as  little  as  any  man  I  know. 
Cadwalader  and  Nick  Biddle  advising  a  man  in  an  affair  of  this  kind, 
forsooth  !  Now,  Paul,  this  affair  must  end  here.  I  will  keep  this  paper  ; 
and,  if  you  have  a  copy  of  it,  either  send  it  to  me  also  or  give  me  your 
word  of  honor  that  you  will  burn  it  at  once  and  dismiss  the  whole  subject 
from  your  mind.  In  Cadwalader  and  Nick  Biddle  you  have  exhausted 
the  wrong  kind  of  advice  ;  now  I  give  you  the  benefit  of  the  right  kind, 
and  forasmuch  as  you  value  my  friendship,  you  must  obey  me." 

Jones  reluctantly  and  sullenly  obeyed  Mr.  Morris.  But  he  did  not 
forget !  More  than  two  years  afterward,  while  he  was  in  the  Texel  with 
his  prize  the  Serapis,  he  heard  the  news  that  Saltonstall  had  lost  the 
Warren,  a  new  thirty-two-gun  frigate,  in  Penobscot  Bay,  xmder  circum- 
stances which  effectually  terminated  his  naval  career.  Then  he  wrote 
bitterly  to  Mr.  Morris  : 

"  I  have  just  learned  the  miserable  fate  of  the  Warren.  To  some  extent 
I  reproach  myself.  If  I  had  obeyed  the  dictates  of  my  sense  of  duty  in 
1777  instead  of  yielding  to  the  persuasions  of  the  peacemaker,  our  flag 
might  still  be  flying  on  the  Warren  !  " 

77 


PAUL   JONES 

Jones  says  also  that  General  Washington  spoke 
of  the  Trumbull  matter  as  a  thing  that  could  not  be 
helped,  because  any  effort  to  displace  Captain  Sal- 
tonstall  would  cause  friction  in  higher  quarters, 
which  it  was  policy  to  avoid,  and  that  it  was  unfort- 
unate that  there  were  not  enough  of  the  new  frig- 
ates ready  to  make  one  available  for  the  sixth  captain. 

"  Of  course,"  pursues  Jones, "  General  Washington 
kept  his  word.  The  result  was  that  in  a  short  time 
the  Committee  ordered  me  to  Boston  to  enlist  sea- 
men for  a  European  cruise  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  then  take  them  to  France  in 
a  French  merchant-ship  called  I'Amphitrite,  which 
they  chartered  for  that  purpose.  But  this  fell 
through.  The  French  captain  was  unwilling  to 
take  the  risk,  because,  as  he  said,  '  if  the  English 
should  get  wind  of  the  affair,  their  cruisers  would 
bring  the  Amphitrite  to,  take  me  and  my  men  out  of 
her,  and  probably  condemn  the  ship  for  violation  of 
neutrality ' — France  then  being  at  peace  with  Eng- 
land." 

However,  just  at  this  moment  another  and  better 
resource  presented  itself.  A  new  ship-sloop  had 
just  been  launched  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  called  the 
Kanger.  She  was  designed  to  carry  a  battery  of 
twenty  long  six-pounders,  and  her  model  was  for 
those  days  exceedingly  sharp,  with  unusual  dead- 
rise  and  lean  lines  forward  and  aft. 

Elijah  Hall,  who  was  her  second  lieutenant  in  her 
famous  cruise,  has  left  an  interesting  description  of 
the  little  ship.*    Mr.  Hall  Avas  a  shipwright  as  well 

*  "  The  Ranger,"  says  Mr.  Hall,  "  was  out  of  the  ordinary  run  of  her 
class.     She  was  planned  expressly  for  speed.     Her  length  was  six  feet 

78 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE    RANGER 

as  naval  officer,  alike  capable  in  both  professions. 
He  was  also  an  historian  of  most  pleasing*  style,  and 
the  little  book  in  which  he  recorded  his  Revolution- 
ary experiences  makes  the  reader  sorry  it  was  not 
larg-er. 

On  June  14,  1777,  Congress  passed  the  following 
resolution : 

Resolved,,  That  the  Flag  of  the  Thirteen  United  States  of  America 
be  Thirteen  Stripes,  Alternate  Red  and  White;  that  THE  UNION 
be  Thirteen  Stars  in  a  Blue  Field  :  Representing  a  NEW  Constel- 
lation. 

Resolved,  That  CAPTAIN  JOHN  PAUL  JONES  be  Appointed 
to  Command  the  Ship  RANGER. 

In  the  perspective  of  a  century  and  a  quarter  it 
seems   singular  that  two   acts   so  widely  different 

more  than  any  twenty-gun  ship-sloop  of  her  day,  she  was  flush  decked 
fore  and  aft  except  a  short,  light  topgallant  forecastle  open  aft,  and  a 
stiU  shorter  poop-deck  with  a  long  break  to  shelter  the  binnacle  and 
housed  in  only  enough  to  make  a  captain's  cabin  and  two  small  state- 
rooms in  the  transoms.     Her  sizes  were : 

Length,  extreme 116  feet. 

Length  of  keel  for  tonnage 96     " 

Breadth,  extreme 28    " 

Depth  in  the  hold 13    "    6  inches. 

Burthen,  British  measurement 308  tons. 

"  The  timber  of  her  floors  and  planldng  to  the  turn  of  the  bilges  was 
well  seasoned,  but  all  the  rest,  including  f uttocks,  knees,  and  all  fram- 
ing and  plank  above  the  bilges  as  well  as  deck-beams  was  of  green  tim- 
ber cut  as  used  ;  but  her  decks  were  of  seasoned  white  pine.  Her  bot- 
tom was  metaled  to  the  turn  of  the  bilges,  thus  making  the  task  of 
careening  or  heaving  her  out  much  less  difficult  than  in  un-metaled  ships, 
I  believe  she  was  the  first  American  ship  to  be  coppered,  and  the  device 
was  quite  new  also  in  the  British  and  French  navies.  Her  spars  were  a 
set  got  out  for  a  400-ton  Indiaman,  and  of  course  too  long  and  heavy  for 
a  vessel  of  her  class. 

"  When  Captain  Jones  arrived  and  took  the  command,  I  had  just 

79 


TAUL   JONES 

in  nature  and  effect  should  be  joined  in  one  resolu- 
tion. Probably  Cong-ress  did  it  simply  for  con- 
venience and  without  thought  of  the  historical 
impression  the  fact  might  produce  in  the  distant 
future.  But,  little  as  our  Congress  may  have 
thought  about  this  unusual  combination,  its  signifi- 
cance was  not  lost  on  Paul  Jones.  He  accepted  it 
as  a  distinction  far  beyond  his  wildest  dreams.  He 
used  to  say :  "  That  flag  and  I  are  twins  ;  born  the 
same  hour  from  the  same  womb  of  destiny.  We 
cannot  be  parted  in  life  or  in  death.  So  long  as 
we  can  float,  we  shall  float  together.  If  we  must 
sink,  we  shall  go  down  as  one ! " 

October  2,  1777,  Jones   reported  to  the  Marine 

stepped  the  lower  masts  and  was  so  impressed  with  their  disproportion- 
ate height  that  I  was  about  to  cut  them  down  about  four  feet  in  the 
caps.  But  Captain  Jones  said  it  was  a  pity  to  cut  off  such  fine  masts, 
and  he  directed  me  to  fid  them  about  four  feet  lower  than  usual  in  the 
hounds,  which  was  done.  Still  she  was  considerably  over-sparred,  and 
we  did  shorten  all  the  yards  and  the  bowsprit,  jibboom  and  spanker 
boom  somewhat.  In  addition  to  this  she  had  been  planned  to  carry 
twenty  six-pounders ;  but  Captain  Jones  put  fourteen  long  nines  in  her 
and  only  four  six-pounders,  which  further  raised  her  centre  of  weight  and 
increased  her  top-heaviness.  This,  with  the  extra  ballast  made  neces- 
sary, brought  her  a  foot  lower  in  the  water  than  was  intended,  when 
fully  provisioned,  watered,  and  stored  for  a  long  cruise. 

"  All  these  things  made  her  uneasy  and  somewhat  crank  in  windward 
work,  and  though  she  was  weatherly  enough,  it  was  not  quite  safe  to 
cany  full  sail  on  her  when  clawing  to  windward  close-hauled  in  squally 
weather.  But  with  the  wind  anywhere  abaft  the  beam  or  going  free, 
she  could  run  like  a  hound,  and  on  those  points  of  sailing  could  show  her 
heels  to  anything  afloat,  great  or  small.  Another  fact  was  that  all  her 
guns  were  cast  in  America,  most  of  our  other  ships  at  that  time  having 
guns  cast  in  Europe.  In  outward  appearance  she  was  a  perfect  beautj', 
her  sheer  being  as  delicate  as  the  lines  of  a  pretty  woman's  arm,  and  as 
she  was  rather  low  in  the  water  for  her  length  and  her  masts  raked  two 
or  three  degrees  more  than  any  other  ship  of  the  day,  she  was  on  the 
whole  the  sauciest  craft  afloat." 

80 


IN    COMMAND   OF   THE    RANGER 

Committee,  from  Portsmouth,  that  the  Hanger  would 
ho  ready  to  sail  on  the  15th  of  that  month.  He  re- 
ported that  his  crew  was  already  recruited  to  the 
full  complement,  and  described  it  as  "  the  best  crew 
I  have  ever  seen,  and,  I  believe,  the  best  afloat : 
nearly  all  native  Americans,  and  the  proportion  of 
able  seamen  to  the  total  is  much  beyond  the  aver- 
age." He  also  announced  that,  while  waiting  for 
his  final  orders,  he  would  make  one  or  two  short  runs 
off  the  coast  a  day  or  tw^o  at  a  time,  to  "  shake  down 
his  crew,  set  up  his  rigging,  test  the  set  of  his  sails, 
and  find  out  the  best  trim  of  the  ship." 

In  due  course — probably  eight  or  ten  days — he  re- 
ceived advices  that  the  Congress  expected  soon  to 
have  news  of  the  last  importance  for  transmission 
to  France,  and  that  he  should  hold  himself  in  readi- 
ness to  get  under  way  at  once  on  receipt  of  the  de- 
spatches. These  orders  were  accompanied  by  a  pri- 
vate note  from  Robert  Morris  informing  him  that 
the  news  daily  expected  would  come  from  the  upper 
valley  of  the  Hudson,  that  the  character  of  the 
news  would  undoubtedly  be  such  as  to  exert  the 
most  profound  influence  upon  the  result  of  the  pend- 
ing war,  and  that  it  had  been  decided  to  hold  the 
Ranger  in  readiness  to  carry  the  news  because  the 
committee  believed  both  the  ship  and  commander 
best  adapted  of  any  in  the  navy  to  make  a  quick 
and  safe  voyage  to  France. 

From  this  it  appears  that  those  at  the  head  of  our 
Revolutionary  affairs  felt  sure  of  the  capture  or  total 
defeat  of  Burgoyne's  army  at  least  three  weeks  be- 
fore his  surrender.  The  scenes  throughout  the 
country  during  the  days  immediately  following  the 
Vol.  I.— 6  81 


PAUL   JO:XES 

17th  of  October,  1777,  must  have  been  thrilling-. 
Couriers  rode  at  breakneck  speed  in  every  direction 
on  all  roads  and  across  fields,  shouting  to  every  per- 
son they  met  and  at  every  doorway  as  they  flew  past, 
"  Burgoyne  has  surrendered  !  "  There  were  no  de- 
tails ;  the  couriers  had  no  time  to  give  them.  But 
the  one  great  fact  was  enough.  The  w^hole  patriot 
country  went  wild  over  it.  Marvellous  stories  have 
been  told  of  the  rapidity  with  which  this  glad  news 
was  spread  over  the  country  from  New  Hampshire 
to  Georgia  in  those  days  of  simple  horseflesh  and 
hard  riding.  From  the  field  of  Stillwater  to  Ports- 
mouth is  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  miles  as  the 
bird  flies,  and  doubtless  was  at  least  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles  by  the  shortest  roads  of  those 
days.  Yet  it  is  said  that  the  news  reached  Ports- 
mouth in  about  thirty  hours  and  was  brought  by  a 
single  courier,  who  never  stopped  except  to  obtain 
and  shift  his  saddle  to  a  fresh  horse  as  he  wore  the 
others  out ;  eating  his  meals  in  the  saddle  and  never 
thinking  of  rest  I 

Thus  Paul  Jones  must  have  known  by  October 
19th  the  nature  of  the  news  he  w^as  to  carry  across 
the  ocean.  The  despatches,  under  the  seal  of  Con- 
gress, were  placed  in  his  hands  about  midnight, 
October  31,  and  the  Banger  was  under  way  and 
clear  of  the  Isles  of  Shoals  before  daylight,  Novem- 
ber 1,  1777  ;  as  her  log  says  in  the  second  entry  of 
that  date,  "  going  free,  course  east  by  south  half 
east,  wind  west  north-west,  blowing  fresh,  the  sea 
cross  and  choppy,  from  the  old  swell  of  an  easterly 
gale,  the  two  days  before." 

The  last  thing  Jones  did  before  casting  off  the 

82 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE   EANGER 

sliore-boat's  painter  was  to  add  a  postscript  to  his 
acknowledgment  of  the  receipt  of  the  despatches 
and  his  order,  saying- :  "  I  will  spread  this  news 
in  France  in  thirty  daj^s."  He  actually  did  land  at 
Nantes  early  in  the  morning  of  December  2,  1777, 
thirty-two  days  out  from  Portsmouth.  Jones  him- 
self has  left  little  record  of  this  remarkable  run.  In 
his  ofl&cial  report  he  says  that  he  "  encountered  a 
good  deal  of  bad  weather,  and  for  the  first  twelve 
days  out,  after  clearing  George's  Banks,  had  a  suc- 
cession of  north-easterlies,  from  a  half  to  a  whole 
gale,  with  frequent  snow-squalls  on  the  edge  of  the 
Grand  Banks,  and  as  far  to  the  eastward  as  the  forty- 
fourth  meridian.  x4.fter  that  it  was  mostly  clear  with 
wind  abeam  except  three  days  of  baffling  south- 
easterlies  after  passing  the  longitude  of  the  Azores." 
But  Elijah  Hall,  second  lieutenant  of  the  Banger, 
has  left  a  more  copious  record,  which,  in  view  of  the 
importance  of  the  little  Banger's  mission,  as  the  se- 
quel proved,  is  worth  preserving.  Lieutenant  Hall 
says : 

I  had  sailed  with  many  captains  in  all  kinds  of  voyages, 
but  I  never  had  seen  a  ship  crowded  as  Captain  Jones 
drove  the  Ranger.  The  wind  held  northwesterly  and 
fresh  till  we  had  cleared  Sable  Island  and  began  to  draw 
on  to  til 3  Banks.  Then  it  came  off  to  the  northeast  and 
east  northeast  with  many  snow-squalls,  and  thick  of 
nights.  We  might  even  then  have  made  a  long  reach  to 
leeward  and  run  as  far  south  as  40°,  if  not  indeed  easting  on 
that  parallel  as  far  as  the  Azores.  This  would  have  eased 
everything,  but  would  also  have  added  a  week's  time  to 
the  run.  Captain  Jones  therefore  held  to  his  northerly 
course,  and  stuck  grimly  to  his  great  circle,  drawn  between 

83 


PAUL   JONES 

47°  and  50''  north.  As  the  wind  hung  all  the  time  between 
north  northeast  and  east  northeast  with  but  few  veerings 
outside  those  points,  it  was  always  forward  of  the  beam  on 
the  true  course  and  often  near  dead  ahead.  Imagine  then,  the 
situation  of  the  Ranger's  crew,  with  a  top-heavy  and  crank 
ship  under  their  feet,  and  a  commander  who  day  and  night 
insisted  on  every  rag  she  could  stagger  under  without  lay- 
ing clear  down  ! 

As  it  was  she  came  close  to  beam-ends  more  than  once, 
and  on  one  occasion  righted  only  by  letting-fly  sheets  cut 
with  hatchets.  During  all  this  trying  work  Captain  Jones 
was  his  own  navigating  officer,  keeping  the  deck  eighteen 
or  twenty  hours  out  of  every  twenty -four,  often  serving 
extra  grog  to  the  men  with  his  own  hands,  and  by  his  ex- 
ample silencing  all  disposition  to  grumble.  In  the  worst 
of  it  the  watch  and  watch  was  lap-watched  so  that  the 
men  would  be  eight  hours  on  to  four  off  ;  but  no  one  com- 
plained. It  speaks  well  alike  for  commander  and  crew 
that  not  a  man  was  punished  or  even  severely  reprimanded 
during  this  terrific  voyage.* 

*  Withal  their  hard  work  and  trying  duty,  the  crew  of  the  Ranger  yet 
found  characteristic  diversion.  Among  other  things  they  invented  a 
sailor  song  suited  to  the  occasion,  which  became  popular  in  tlie  Rev- 
olutionary Navy  and  was  cherished  long  afterward  iu  the  forecastle 
repertoire.  The  verses  were  written  by  Midshipman  Charley  Hill,  of 
Barnstable,  and  whatever  may  be  their  faults  of  prosody  they  do  not 
lack  vigor.     They  called  it : 

The  Song  of  the  Ranger.  Carry  the  News  to  London  ! 

The  final  stanza  will  give  an  idea  of  the  character  of  the  song  : 

"  So,  now  we  had  him  hard  and  fast, 
Burgoyne  laid  down  his  Arms  at  Last 
And  that  is  why  we  Brave  the  Blast, 

To  carry  the  News  to  London  ! 
Heigh-ho  !     Car'r'y'y  the  News  ! 
Go  !     Carry  the  News  to  London. 
Tell  Old  King  George  he's  undone  ! 
Heigh-ho  !     Car'r'y'y  the  News  !  " 

Jones  sent  a  copy  of  these  verses  to  Joseph  Hewes  with  the  quaint 
comment  that,  ' '  while  the  text  is  rude  in  some  parts  and  the  language  m 

84 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE    RANGER 

Captain  Jones  in  his  report  to  the  Marine  Com- 
mittee gives  two  reasons  for  selecting"  the  northerly 
course.    Ho  says : 

The  great  circle  course  was  the  shortest  by  several  days' 
sail,  and  even  at  the  advanced  stage  of  the  season  there 
was  a  chance  of  westerly  and  northerly  winds  prevail- 
ing as  far  as  35"  west,  and  thus  we  might  get  a  good 
slant.  But  the  main  reason  was  that  the  northerly 
course  at  that  season  would  free  us  from  interruption  by 
the  enemy's  cruisers  which  were  known  to  swarm  on  the 
southerly  course.  Aware  that  the  first  and  greatest  object 
of  the  voyage  was  to  deliver  the  highly  important  dis- 
patches at  the  earliest  moment  in  France,  I  wished  above 
all  things  to  avoid  being  chased  out  of  my  course  by  the 
enemy's  frigates,  with  the  necessary  accompanying  risk  of 
being  captured  or  destroyed.  The  purpose  was  accom- 
plished. Not  a  sail  was  sighted  after  we  passed  the 
sixtieth  meridian  until  we  had  crossed  the  twentieth,  and  the 
first  ship  we  spoke  was  a  Dutch  East  Indiaman  in  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  two  days'  run  west  of  Ushant.  I  informed 
the  Dutch  captain  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  and 
requested  him  to  repeat  the  intelligence,  with  my  compli- 
ments, to  any  British  captain  that  he  might  fall  in  with. 
I  trust  your  Honorable  Committee  will  approve  my  con- 
duct in  these  respects.  I  have  fully  reported  my  conduct 
and  my  reasons  for  it  to  our  Commissioners,  Messrs 
Franklin  and  Deane,  and  am  authorized  by  them  to 
inform  you  that  it  meets  with  their  hearty  approval. 

one  line  not  quite  polite,  yet  as  a  whole  the  ballad  is  spirited  and  reflecta 
credit  on  its  young  author,  Mr,  Hill,  the  youngest  of  my  midshipmen. 
Mr.  Hill,  who  is  not  yet  twenty  years  old,  is  the  son  of  the  late  Captain 
Abner  Hill,  of  Barnstable,  with  whom  I  became  acquainted  years  ago 
in  the  West  India  and  coast  trade.  If  Abner  Hill  had  lived  I  am  sure 
he  would  now  be  an  ornament  to  our  little  navy.  His  son  Charles  rep- 
resents him  most  creditably,  and  I  commend  him  to  the  notice  of  the 
Honorable  Committee." 

85 


PAUL    JONES 

My  crew  are  all  well,  and  except  a  few  trifling  accidents 
due  to  the  hard  exposure  on  certain  occasions,  no  one  has 
been  on  the  sick-list.  One  seaman,  Solomon  Hutchings, 
had  his  leg  broken  by  a  spare  spar  getting  adrift,  but  is 
doing  well.  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  calling  your  atten- 
tion more  particularly  to  the  excellent  behavior  of  all  my 
officers  and  men  in  a  later  report.  For  the  present  suffice 
to  say,  that,  without  exception,  their  conduct  left  nothing 
to  be  desired. 

During  the  last  day's  run  I  took  two  prizes  bound  from 
Madeira  and  Malaga  respectively,  with  wines,  dried  fruits, 
etc.,  for  London.  I  sent  one  of  them  to  Brest  and  convoyed 
the  other  to  Nantes.  I  enclose  estimate  of  their  value ; 
also  roster  of  my  crew  entitled  to  share  prize-money.* 

The  Eanger  anchored  in  the  Loire,  below  Nantes, 
about  twilight,  December  2,  1777,  and  Captain 
Jones  at  once  proceeded  exiiress  to  Paris,  placing  the 
despatches  in  Dr.  Franklin's  hands  early  on  the  5th, 

*  It  is  a  Bingular  fact  that,  identified  as  the  name  of  the  Ranger  and 
the  performance  of  her  crew  are  with  one  of  the  most  momentous  crises 
in  all  our  national  history,  no  complete  roll  of  the  humble  heroes  who 
manned  her  has  been  preserved  in  our  official  archives.  The  nearest 
approach  to  it  is  a  list  of  seventy-eight  names  on  file  in  the  Department 
of  State,  Bureau  of  Rolls  and  Library  ;  and  these  are  not  in  the  form  of 
a  roll  or  roster,  but  are  simply  signatures  to  a  petition  presented  by  or 
through  one  of  the  private  secretaries  of  Arthur  Lee,  Hezekiah  Ford,  of 
North  Carolina,  to  the  American  Commissioners  in  France,  from  part  of 
the  crew  while  the  Ranger  lay  in  Brest  Harbor  in  the  spring  of  1778, 
soon  after  she  had  captured  the  Drake.  From  the  reports  and  letters  of 
Captain  Jones,  from  the  Gardner  papers,  and  from  other  sources  of 
original  and  contemporary  information,  it  is,  fortunately,  possible  to 
place  upon  the  pages  of  history  the  names  of  the  other  fifty-three  men 
who,  with  the  seventy-eight  of  record  in  the  Department  of  State,  made 
up  the  Ranger's  crew. 

The  roster,  as  given  in  the  Appendix,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred, 
is  that  of  the  oflficers  and  crew  when  the  ship  arrived  in  the  Loire, 
bringing  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne, 

86 


IN   COMISIAND   OF   THE   EANGER 

travelling  two  hundred  and  twentj^^  miles  in  sixty- 
hours,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  ship  about  the 
middle  of  the  month.  The  despatches  contained 
full  accounts  of  the  military  operations  immediately 
leading  to  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  with  a  general 
description  of  the  situation  brought  about  by  it,  and 
its  effect  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  war  so  far  as  the 
Americans  were  concerned.  The  main  text  of  the 
military  part  of  the  despatches  was  written  by  Gen- 
eral Washington  himself,  while  the  estimate  and 
deductions  as  to  the  political  effects  of  the  event 
were  written  by  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  documents 
as  a  whole  were  therefore  couched  in  the  calm,  lofty 
tone  characteristic  of  their  authors.  There  was  no 
tendency  to  exaggerate,  no  exhibition  of  vainglor}^ 
There  was  no  attempt  at  embellishment,  and  but 
little  comment.  Larger  forces  than  the  army  of 
Burgoyne  had  often  capitulated  in  European  for- 
tresses as  the  result  of  sieges.  But  it  was  instantly 
recognized  that  never  before  had  so  considerable  a 
force  (at  least  no  British  force)  surrendered  in  the 
open  field  to  an  army  so  slightly  superior  to  it  in 
numbers,  and  as  the  result  of  a  series  of  pitched 
battles.  Remarkable  and  unprecedented  as  the 
event  was,  the  Count  de  Yergennes  said  that  *'  the 
modesty  with  which  General  Washington  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  laid  the  information  of  it  before  the  King 
and  his  Ministers  was,  if  possible,  yet  more  note- 
worthy." 

Paul  Jones  was  not  the  only  messenger  who  **  car- 
ried the  news  "  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  He  was 
not  even  the  first  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  Dr. 
Franklin.    Jones  arrived  at  Passy — a  village  near 

87 


PAUL   JONES 

Paris — where  our  commissioners  had  their  quarters 
— the  morning-  of  December  5,  1777.  He  found 
that  he  had  been  preceded  by  John  Loring  Austin, 
of  Boston,  who  had  delivered  an  exact  copy  of  the 
despatches  he  broug-ht,  about  twelve  hours  ahead  of 
him.  Austin  got  his  copy  early  in  the  morning-  of 
October  30th,  and  sailed  from  Boston  in  a  fast 
French  merchantman  (expressly  chartered  for  the 
IDurpose)  within  four  hours. 

In  connection  with  the  delivery  of  the  despatches 
announcing-  Burgoyne's  surrender,  there  is  a  bit  of 
private  history,  deeply  interesting-  both  as  an  ex- 
hibit of  the  confusion  and  distrust  prevailing  in 
those  days,  and  as  a  commentary  on  the  character  of 
Paul  Jones.  To  cut  a  long  story  short,  and  to  em- 
body here  in  a  page  or  two  the  results  of  years  of 
research,  it  may  be  premised  that  Dr.  Edward  Ban- 
croft was  accused  by  Arthur  Lee  of  making  use 
of  these  despatches  in  advance  of  their  publica- 
tion for  stock-jobbing  pur^Doses  not  only  in  Paris 
but  also  in  London  ;  and  these  accusations  went 
so  far  as  to  imply  or  insinuate  the  privity,  if  not 
the  profit,  of  Dr.  Franklin  himself  in  such  trans- 
actions. 

Yv'hen  these  accusations  became  public,  Jones, 
feeling  that  his  own  honor  as  one  of  the  trusted  cus- 
todians of  the  news  was  at  stake,  set  about  investi- 
gating the  matter  in  his  own  way.  Dr.  Bancroft 
and  Jones  were  friends,  and  their  friendship  lasted 
until  death.  But  under  such  an  imputation,  with 
the  slightest  possibility  that  it  might,  if  not  cleared 
up  at  once,  be  used  to  impeach  his  own  integrity  and 
fidelity,  Jones  would  not  rest  a  moment.    He  probed 

99 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE    RANGER 

the  matter  to  the  bottom  and  satisfied  himself  that, 
so  far  as  Bancroft  was  concerned,  the  imputations 
were  groundless.  On  this  point  Dr.  Francis  Whar- 
ton says,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Diplomatic 
Correspondence  of  the  American  Revolution : " 

Jones  was  the  most  dangerous  enemy  Britain  had  on  the 
high  seas.  By  his  stealth,  his  amazing  fighting  qualities 
and  his  coolness  he  not  only  inflicted  great  damage  by  his 
prizes  but  he  compelled  a  large  naval  force  to  be  retained 
for  home  defence  and  trebled  the  rates  of  insurance  on  Brit- 
ish merchant  ships.  .  .  .  Had  Jones  suspected  Ban- 
croft of  perfidy,  swift  and  terrible  would  ha,ve  been  the 
vengeance  ;  for  in  such  cases  Paul  Jones  did  not  stay  his 
hand. 

The  only  mention  of  the  affair  the  author  has  been 
able  to  find  in  Jones's  correspondence  is  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Livingston,  dated  Nantes,  March  13,  1779 — 
more  than  a  year  afterward — in  which  he  emphati- 
cally disposes  of  the  story,  in  favor  of  Dr.  Ban- 
croft's integrity.  Dr.  Wharton's  remark  that  "  in 
such  cases  Paul  Jones  did  not  stay  his  hand,"  means 
more  to  close  students  of  his  character  and  career 
than  superficial  readers  of  history  are  likely  to  grasp. 
It  means  that,  while  under  ordinary  circumstances 
polite  and  forbearing,  even  to  long-suffering,  Jones 
had  at  bottom  a  most  ferocious  temper,  and  that  the 
one  thing  of  all  things  he  would  not  brook  from  any- 
one was  personal  perfidy.  Errors  of  judgment  or 
mistakes  in  conduct  he  was  quick  to  overlook  or  for- 
give ;  but  for  deliberate  betrayal  he  knew  but  one 
remedy.  He  was  not  in  any  degree  a  bully ;  not 
even  prone  to  quarrel.     But  his  sense  of  personal 

89 


PAUL   JONES 

honor  was  delicately,  almost  painfully,  acute ;  and 
anyone  who  wanted  any  kind  of  a  fight  could  always 
get  it  instantly  by  jarring  that  high-strung  chord  in 
his  nature. 

This  sentiment  was  quite  as  mandatory  to  him  in 
dealing  with  common  sailors  as  with  men  of  his  own 
class.  On  taking  command  of  the  Ranger  he  found 
that  forty-three  men  had  been  enlisted  at  Ports- 
mouth on  terms  stated  in  public  handbills,  as  to 
advances  and  "  ship-money,"  which  could  not  be 
carried  out  under  the  regulations  of  Congress.  The 
total  amount  involved  was  $40  apiece  for  thirty  able 
seamen  and  $20  apiece  for  thirteen  landsmen  and 
boj^s  ;  aggregating  $1,460.  Jones  at  once  addressed 
a  letter  to  these  men,  through  Lieutenant  Hall,  who 
had  enlisted  them.  In  this  letter  he  pointed  out  the 
conflict  between  the  terms  of  the  handbills  and  the 
regulations  of  Congress,  and  then  said ; 

I  would  not  deceive  any  man  who  has  entered  or  may  en- 
ter to  serve  under  my  command.  ...  I  consider  my- 
self as  being  under  a  personal  obligation  to  these  brave 
men  who  have  cheerfully  enlisted  to  serve  with  me,  and  I 
accept  their  act  as  proof  of  their  good  opinion  of  me,  which 
I  so  highly  value  that  I  cannot  permit  it  to  be  dampened  in 
the  least  degree  by  misunderstanding  or  failure  to  perform 
engagements.  If  necessary,  or  to  whatsoever  extent  it  may 
be  necessary,  I  will  personally  undertake,  after  exhaust- 
ing my  proper  powers  in  their  behalf  under  the  regulations, 
to  make  good  at  my  own  risk  any  remainder.  I  wish  all 
my  men  to  be  happy  and  contented.  The  conditions  of  the 
handbills  will  be  strictly  complied  with. 

According  to  expense  accounts  allowed  and  paid 
to  Jones  by  Congress  in   1782,  he  exj)ended  one 

90 


IN   COMMAND   OF   THE   RANGER 

hundred  and  forty-seven  guineas  out  of  his  own 
funds  in  making  the  terms  of  the  handbills  good, 
that  being  the  difference  between  the  sum  prom- 
ised in  the  handbills  and  the  advances  which  the 
regulations  permitted  him  to  make  on  public  ac- 
count. 


91 


CHAPTEE  V 
THE   FRENCH   ALLIANCE 

Tee  state  of  European  politics  at  the  end  of  the 
year  1777  determined  the  fate  of  the  American 
struggle  for  independence.  The  situation  in  Amer- 
ica, as  Europe  viewed  it,  admits  of  quick  summary  : 

Everj^thing  south  of  the  latitude  of  New  York 
City  had  gone  wrong.  By  the  end  of  the  first  week 
in  October,  the  British,  already  firmly  planted  in 
possession  of  New  York  City,  had  defeated  Wash- 
ington at  the  Brandywine,  had  occupied  Philadel- 
phia, driving  Congress  from  its  capital  to  seek 
refuge  in  the  village  of  York,  and  had  repulsed 
Washington  from  Germantown.  In  the  far  South 
little  show  of  resistance  remained,  except  partisan 
warfare.  But  north  of  New  York  all  had  been 
American  success.  Elaborate  as  the  British  plans 
in  that  region  were,  and  able  as  had  been  the  efibrts 
to  execute  them,  all  had  been  British  failures.  From 
Bennington  to  the  end,  Burgoyne's  campaign  was  a 
series  of  British  reverses  and  patriot  victories,  cul- 
minating in  the  surrender. 

Thus  the  account  stood  at  the  end  of  1777,  or 
beginning  of  1778,  as  the  statesmen  of  Continental 
Europe  viewed  it.  They  looked  only  to  general 
results,  and  gave  but  scant  survey  to  details.  Defeat 
at  Brandywine,   check  at   Germantown,   even   the 

93 


THE   FHENCII   ALLIANCE 

..pulsion  of  Congress  from  Philadelphia,  could  be 
expSed  or  at  least  estimated  to  European^ach- 
dans,  strategists,  and  «t-t--7^^J°"^,:  ^  .ho. 

'T\  ^ut tpUir J  ^r  Snllrie  toL 
de^::fsun-:nd^!-d  rnnihilation  of  Bane's 

alj  ;-  -t  P--^^^-    ?^"^'"VrthrSonth 

British  armies  on  the  I^'^l-^J'^^-^.^^^^jVontiSntal 

f  fnv  i.oMnn"-  in  the  estimation  of  Continental 

Tope  Jie;  weighed  in  the  scale  against  the  anni- 

hilation  of  Burgoyne.  ^ 

The  news  of  this  event  reached  Pans,  as  has  been 
stated  on  the  evening  of  December  4,  1777.  Pan! 
Tones  arrived  the  next  day,  and  not  only  brought 
dnnUcrs  of  Mr.  Austin's  despatches  but  much  ad- 
Snaf  inLmation  as  to  military  details  -hicj 
he  had  gleaned  during  the  ten  days  that  elapsed 
lie  nau  g  ^^  Portsmouth  and 

S^tilC  darf.l  that  port.    Hehad  also  the 
vastly  im;ortant  survey  of  the  situation  embod^e^^ 

rSbert  Morris's  private  l^"-^' /°  ^^^  "^^.kVt 
brouo-ht  from  York  along  with  the  official  packet 
td  the    sic^nificance   of  Mr.   Morris's  survey,   as 

fl  nf"  thLe  ..'ere  some  deductions  as  to  both  the 
str*tco*cranlthe  domestic  political  eilects  of  the 
ulXUiichoursubsequentconversa^^^^^^ 

to  be  more  clearly  dra-"  i"  "^y  "-^"d  tl^^  ^^^^^^^ 
Austin's.    But  this  was  doubtless  due  to  the  cUttei 


PAUL   JONES 

ence  in  our  experience  and  training.  Among  other 
things  it  was  evident  that  Mr.  Austin  did  not  at  the 
moment  quite  share  my  views  as  to  the  decisive 
effect  the  event  must  have  upon  the  morale  of  our 
people  themselves,  and  the  far-reaching  elation  of 
spirit  it  must  impart  to  our  armed  forces  by  land 
and  sea." 

At  the  moment  when  Mr.  Austin,  so  closely  fol- 
lowed by  Jones,  laid  this  news  before  the  eyes  of 
France,  the  attitude  of  that  country  was  most  im- 
portant to  the  cause  of  American  Independence. 
The  good-will  of  other  Continental  States  might  be 
desirable,  but  that  of  France  was  indispensable. 

The  French  nation  was  at  that  instant  divided 
into  three  parties  :  First,  the  out-and-out  American 
sympathizers.  Second,  those  who  from  hereditary 
enmity  to  England  wished  the  revolted  Colonies  well, 
but  hesitated  to  give  open  aid  and  comfort.  Third, 
the  Conservative  party,  which  could  see  no  good  what- 
ever in  any  revolt  of  a  dependency  against  a  mon- 
archy, and  which  abhorred  the  doctrines  of  republi- 
canism, no  matter  where  or  by  whom  maintained. 

The  first  of  these  parties  embodied  what,  for  brev- 
ity, may  be  termed  the  young  France  of  that  time; 
the  men  in  whose  minds  the  theories  of  Ilous- 
seau  and  the  sneers  of  Voltaire  were  rapidly  crys- 
tallizing into  that  fierce  republicanism  which  ten 
years  later  compelled  the  King  to  convoke  the  Third 
Estate,  and  fifteen  years  later  brought  on  the  Eeign 
of  Terror.  At  the  head  of  this  party  were  Lafayette 
and  the  Duke  de  Chartres ;  the  first  actually  fight- 
ing in  America,  the  latter  second  in  command  of  the 
Brest  fleet ;  the  first  a  scion  of  one  of  the  oldest  noble 

94 


THE   FRENCH   ALLIANCE 

families  in  France,  the  latter  a  scion  of  French  roy- 
alty itself. 

The  second  or  semi-neutral  party,  hating  but  still 
fearing  England,  and  ready,  though  hesitating,  to 
strike,  embraced  all  the  young  or  active  and  am- 
bitious officers  of  the  French  Army  and  Navy ;  the 
school  of  statesmen  in  whose  bosoms  rankled  the 
reverses  of  the  last  war,  the  loss  of  Canada,  and  the 
downfall  of  French  aspirations  in  India  ;  the  younger 
element  of  the  nobility  ;  the  adventurous  throng  in 
the  middle  class ;  and  this  party  had  for  its  leader 
no  less  a  personage  than  the  King  himself,  with  such 
statesmen  as  Vergennes,  Vauguyon,  Luzerne,  Mira- 
beau,  Malesherbes,  and  a  host  of  others,  at  his  back. 

The  third  party  embodied  the  older  nobility, 
the  courtiers  almost  without  exception,  the  clergy 
to  a  man,  and  all  the  parasites  of  court  and  palace 
of  every  grade  and  degree.  This  party  had  for  its 
leader  the  Queen ;  and  she  was  supported  by  such 
social,  political,  and  religious  influences  as  the  de- 
scription of  her  following  must  naturally  suggest. 
But  poor  Marie  Antoinette  does  not  need  the  charity 
that  her  subsequent  misfortunes  must  compel  to 
extenuate  her  attitude  toward  our  infant  republic 
in  its  days  of  peril.  She  could  not  help  holding 
such  an  attitude.  She  was  heart  and  soul  a  Haps- 
burg,  and  the  transplanting  of  her  to  France  had 
not  in  the  least  abated  the  rigorous  traditions  of 
that  haughty  house  of  despotism,  already  hoary 
with  the  sins  of  centuries.  In  the  tyranny  of  the 
French  Bourbons  there  was  always  a  dash  of  levity, 
a  flavor  now  and  then  of  good  cheer ;  in  short,  the 
French  Bourbons  were  full  of  human  nature,  and 

95 


PAUL   JONES 

even  tlieir  depravities  were  not  wholly  without 
charm.  But  the  house  of  Hapsburg  in  every  page 
of  its  history  up  to  that  time  was  gloomy,  and  in 
every  line  of  its  annals  austere.  It  was  the  embod- 
iment, the  incarnation,  of  all  that  can  be  repulsive 
in  tyrannj^  and  forbidding  in  despotism  ;  "  the  one 
great  power  in  Europe " — as  Napoleon  not  long 
afterward  said — "  that  never  won  a  campaign  or 
lost  a  province."  The  Haxosburg  Emperor  was  a 
mediaeval  monk  among  kings ;  a  modern  Saturn 
among  statesmen.  Manifestly,  then,  no  struggling 
reiDublic  could  reasonably  expect  countenance,  much 
less  aid  and  comfort,  from  either  man  or  woman  of 
such  antecedents  and  such  breeding. 

Under  these  conditions,  and  clear  up  to  the  mo- 
ment when  the  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender  ar- 
rived, the  attitude  of  the  three  French  parties  had 
been :  The  first  or  Progressist  party,  active,  noisy, 
but  powerless.  The  second  or  Opportunist  party, 
hesitating,  indecisive,  but  anxious  for  a  pretext. 
The  third,  the  Queen's  party,  cynical,  chilling,  and 
sinister,  but  j^et  holding  the  situation. 

The  great  news  from  Saratoga  let  loose  the  deluge. 
The  Progressists  could  no  longer  be  restrained.  The 
Opportunists  threw  off  all  disguise,  cast  away  all  cau- 
tion, and  vied  with  the  others  in  demanding  an  Amer- 
ican alliance.  And  they  carried  the  King  along  with 
their  flood.  The  Queen  and  her  party  sank  in  the  tu- 
mult of  exultation  and  vanished  from  the  public  view. 

Events  now  thronged  one  on  top  of  another.  Tlie 
despatches  were  received  on  December  4th  and  5th. 
The  information  in  them  was  formally  communicated 
to  the  French  Court  December  8th.    King  Louis  XVI. 

96 


THE   FEENCH   ALLIANCE 

directed  his  Cabinet  to  **  consider  favorably  the 
overtures  of  the  Commissioners  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States,"  December  11th.  On  January  8, 1778, 
the  King"  wrote  his  remarkable  letter  to  Charles 
III.,  King-  of  Spain.  The  preliminary  articles  of 
treaty  were  signed  January  17, 1778.  On  January  24th 
the  form  of  the  Treaty  of  Alliance  was  approved  by 
the  King,  except  the  clause  stipulating-  that  France 
should  not  undertake  the  reconquest  of  Canada. 
February  1,  Louis  XVI.  yielded  as  to  this  clause, 
and  five  days  later,  February  6,  1778,  the  Treaty  of 
Alliance  that  assured  American  Independence  was 
signed  and  sealed  at  Versailles — just  two  months 
after  the  arrival  of  the  news. 

This  marvellous  succession  of  events  was  the  se- 
quel of  two  j'^ears  of  almost  abject  beg-g-ing  on  the 
part  of  our  commissioners,  to  no  purpose.  It  is 
perhaps  proper  to  say  that,  while  there  were  three 
commissioners  in  name,  there  was  but  one  in  fact. 
That  one  was  Dr.  Franklin.  Silas  Deane  has  passed 
into  history  as  a  man  who  meant  well,  but  was  un- 
equal to  his  task.  Whatever  came  within  the  range 
of  his  capacities  he  did  faithfully.  His  opinion  of 
himself,  as  is  commonly  the  fate  of  his  type  of 
man,  was  not  shared  by  his  contemporaries.  As 
for  Dr.  Franklin's  other  colleague,  Arthur  Lee,  it  is 
doubtless  best  to  let  the  "  Diplomatic  Correspond- 
ence of  the  American  Revolution  "  tell  his  story. 
No  critic  could  add  a  single  line  to  the  terrible  and 
eternal  indictment  of  those  cold,  pitiless  official 
pages.  Unfortunately,  it  is  forever  beyond  the 
power  of  the  most  gifted  eulogist  to  take  one  syl- 
lable of  it  away. 

Vol.  I.— 7  97 


PAUL    JONES 

When  Jones  left  tlie  United  States  in  the  Kanger, 
it  was  understood,  and  in  fact  ordered,  by  the  Marine 
Committee  that  he  should,  on  arriving-  in  France, 
take  command  of  the  new  ship  building  at  Amster- 
dam, for  which  Silas  Deane  had  contracted  in  1776. 
The  commissioners — at  least  Deane  and  Franklin 
— had  made  every  effort  to  keep  the  actual  character 
of  this  ship  a  secret  from  the  British  Government. 
The  contract  for  her  construction  had  been  signed 
on  behalf  of  the  United  States  by  a  Captain  Gillon, 
in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company, 
who  was  employed  by  the  commissioners  to  super- 
vise her  construction.  Gillon,  however,  was  himself 
"  supervised  "  by  Charles  Frederick  Dumas,  secret 
agent  of  the  Colonies  in  Holland,  and  the  bills  were 
paid  through  Dumas's  banker.  This  ship,  then  known 
as  the  Indien,  was  of  peculiar  construction,  and  her 
general  plans  were  those  furnished  to  the  Marine 
Committee  by  Jones  in  the  fall  of  1775  in  connection 
with  the  new  frigates  then  authorized.  Her  princi- 
pal dimensions  and  armament  w^ere  as  follows  : 

Length  on  the  gun-deck 154  feet 

Length  of  keel  for  tonnage 131     ** 

Extreme  breadth 40     " 

Depth  of  hold 17     " 

Burthen,  Dutch  measurement 1,186  tons 

Gun-deck  battery  in  broadside 28  long  18s  * 

Guu-deck  battery  in  bridle  ports 2     **      ** 

Quarter-deck  battery 8     *'      9s 

Forecastle  battery 8     **      " 

Complement,  otiicers  and  men 400 

*  In  the  actual  armament  of  the  ship  an  equal  number  of  short  or 
"  Swedish  "  thirty-six-pouuders  were  substituted  for  the  long  eighteena. 

98 


THE   FKENCH   ALLIANCE 

She  was  frigate-built,  but  from  forty  to  fifty  per 
cent,  more  powerful  than  any  regular  frigate  then 
afloat ;  the  equal  in  fact  of  any  forty-four-gun  ship 
on  two  decks  in  that  period,  and  not  much  inferior 
to  most  ships  of  fifty  guns. 

She  had  been  on  the  stocks  since  December,  1776, 
and  when  Jones  arrived  in  France  the  December  fol- 
lowing, the  Indien  was  nearly  ready  to  launch.  How- 
ever, her  guns  and  ammunition  were  to  be  placed  on 
board  at  I'Orient  as  soon  as  she  could  be  brought 
round  there  from  Amsterdam.  But  shortly  after  she 
was  launched  the  British  Minister  to  the  Netherlands 
denounced  her  to  the  States-General  as  an  American 
ship-of-war  in  disguise,  and  demanded  that  she  be 
detained  in  Dutch  waters  for  "  meditated  breach 
of  neutrality."  The  commissioners  were  dumb- 
founded at  this  exposure  of  their  plans,  but  could 
do  nothing,  as  the  States-General  was  then  under 
British  influence,  and  after  fruitless  efforts  to  get 
possession  of  the  ship,  they  sold  her  to  the  King  of 
France  for  a  price  nearly  sufficient  to  reimburse 
them  for  the  outlay  already  made  under  the  con- 
tract. This  sale  was  concluded  only  ten  or  twelve 
days  before  Jones  arrived  in  France  with  the 
Ranger.  In  the  course  of  his  investigation,  be- 
fore referred  to,  Jones  ascertained  beyond  ques- 
tion that  the  secrets  of  the  commissioners  in 
regard  to  the  Indien  had  been  betrayed  to  the  Brit- 
ish Government  by  Arthur  Lee's  private  secretary, 
Thornton ;  also  that  he  had  actually  furnished  the 
British  Foreign  Office  with  documents  from  the 
secret  files  of  the  commissioners,  unquestionably 
proving  the  real  character  of  the  ship;  documents 

99 


TAUL   JONES 

which  the  British  Minister  had  laid  before  the 
States-General. 

After  the  King  had  bought  the  Indien,  the  situa- 
tion was  no  better  than  before,  because  it  only 
transferred  the  question  of  neutrality  from  Holland 
to  France.  Jones  told  Dr.  Franklin  that  so  long  as 
peace  continued  between  England  and  France,  it 
would  be  idle  to  hope  for  possession  of  the  Indien, 
or  to  obtain  any  other  regular  ship-of-war  from 
France;  and  in  view  of  this  fact  there  was  nothing 
left  for  him  to  do  but  make  a  cruise  on  the  Ranger 
as  soon  as  the  ship  could  be  fitted  out,  and  the 
spring  opened.  Jones  also  reminded  Dr.  Franklin 
that  by  virtue  of  the  original  understanding  when 
he  assumed  command  of  the  Ranger,  he  was  only  to 
hold  that  command  until  he  could  get  a  larger  ship, 
and  that  his  first  lieutenant,  Simpson,  considered 
himself  now  fully  entitled  to  command  the  Ranger. 

Dr.  Franklin  settled,  or  tried  to  settle,  this  question 
by  giving  Jones  written  instructions  under  date  of 
January  16, 1778,  to  hold  command  of  the  Ranger  till 
further  orders,  and  to  fit  her  at  once  for  a  cruise  in 
the  early  spring.  Simpson  acquiesced  in  this  order, 
but  not  cheerfully  or  with  good  grace,  as  the  sequel 
proved.  Jones  now  took  the  Ranger  from  Nantes 
to  rOrient,  thoroughly  overhauled  and  refitted  her, 
and  on  the  13th  of  February  arrived  in  Brest  Roads 
in  the  presence  of  the  Grand  French  Fleet,  com- 
manded by  the  Count  d'Orvilliers.  The  division  of 
the  fleet  which  Jones  first  spoke  was  commanded  by 
Rear-Admiral  La  Motte  Piquet,  and,  wishing  to  be 
sure  of  his  ground,  Jones  sent  a  boat  to  that  officer 
with  a  i)olito  note  informing  him  that  the  Ranger  flew 

100 


THE    FRENCH   ALLIANCE 

the  new  American  flag,  which  had  never  yet  been 
saluted  by  the  guns  of  any  foreign  naval  power,  and 
asking  whether  a  salute,  if  offered,  would  be  re- 
turned. In  response  he  was  informed  that  the  salute 
due  to  the  senior  officer  of  a  republican  naval  force 
on  the  station  would  be  given  him ;  that  is,  four 
guns  less  than  for  the  representative  of  a  royal 
navy  ;  the  basis  being  that  established  for  the  then 
Republic  of  the  Netherlands.  The  next  day  the 
Ranger  sailed  through  the  French  fleet,  receiving 
from  it  the  first  national  salute  to  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  by  the  guns  of  a  foreign  fleet. 

Most  of  the  numerous  writers  who  have  from  time 
to  time  during  the  nineteenth  century  given  to  the 
public  "  lives  "  or  "  biographies  "  of  Paul  Jones, 
have  led  their  readers  to  believe  that  he  was  not 
only  identified  by  name  with  the  origin  of  the  na- 
tional emblem  by  virtue  of  the  curious  text  of  the 
resolution  of  Congress,  June  14,  1777,  already  re- 
ferred to,  but  also  that  he  was  the  first  to  hoist  it  on 
an  American  man-of-war ;  the  first  to  show  it  upon 
the  ocean ;  the  first  to  receive  and  acknowledge  a 
salute  to  it  from  a  foreign  naval  power ;  the  first  to 
fight  a  naval  battle  under  it,  and  the  first  to  deco- 
rate with  it  a  man-of-war  of  the  enemy  taken  xDrize 
in  action. 

Some  of  these  assertions  or  intimations  are  true  ; 
others  are  fanciful.  Whatever  his  numerous  biog- 
raphers may  have  claimed  for  him  in  respect  to 
personal  identification  with  our  existing  national 
emblem,  Jones  himself  always  considered  the  bare 
truth  quite  enough  glory.  The  truth  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  the  American  flag,  as  we  know  it, 

101 


PAUL   JONES 

and  tlie  appointment  of  Paul  Jones  to  command  the 
Eanger,  were  embraced  iu  the  same  resolution  of 
Congress ;  and  that  his  ship  was  the  first  to  receive 
a  foreign  naval  salute  to  it.  It  was  decreed  the 
14th  of  June,  1777.  Jones  displayed  it  on  the 
Eanger  the  4th  of  July  following,  the  first  anni- 
versary of  the  Declaration  of  Independence — mak- 
ing a  trip  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth  for  that 
especial  puri^ose.  But  the  Banger  was  only  re- 
cently launched  at  that  time,  and,  though  by  that 
act  he  placed  her  nominally  in  commission,  she  was 
not  ready  for  sea  until  early  the  next  October.  Dur- 
ing that  interval  other  American  ships  of-war  had 
gone  to  sea  from  various  iDorts,  with  the  new  ensign 
flying.  The  first  battle  Jones  fought  under  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  was  in  the  Eanger,  when  she  con- 
quered the  Drake,  off  Carrickfergus,  Ireland,  April 
23,  1778.  But  on  the  7th  of  March  previous,  poor 
Nick  Biddle  had  gone  down — or  up — or  both — when 
the  Eandolph,  thirty-two,  was  destroyed  by  explo- 
sion of  her  magazine  in  action  with  the  Yarmouth, 
sixty-four ;  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  went  down — 
or  up — with  Nick  Biddle.  However,  Jones  was 
the  first  to  compel  a  regular  British  man-of-war  to 
strike  the  Cross  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew  to  the 
new  flag,  which  occurred  when  the  Drake  struck 
to  the  Eanger. 

We  have  seen  that  the  French  fleet  saluted  the 
American  flag  on  the  little  Eanger,  February  13, 
1778,  in  the  outer  road  of  Brest.  The  next  day  she 
ran  up  and  anchored  in  the  inner  harbor  off  the  mole 
of  the  Dockyard.  The  Eanger  did  not  leave  that 
anchorage  until  April  9th,  when  she  dropped  down 


THE   FRENCH   ALLIANCE 

into  the  outer  road  to  sail  on  lier  cruise  the  next 
day.  There  were  reasons  for  this  delay.  One  was 
that  the  winter  of  1777-78 — and  particularly  the 
time  from  February  to  April,  1778 — was  extraordi- 
narily severe  and  tempestuous.  Another  was  that 
our  commissioners  at  Paris  were  divided  in  their 
councils.  Franklin  wanted  to  keep  Jones  in  Euro- 
pean waters.  Ai'thur  Lee  was  bent  on  sending  him 
back  to  the  United  States.  Silas  Deane,  though 
still  nominally  a  member  of  the  commission,  was 
not  at  this  time  even  consulted  by  either  of  his  col- 
leagues, and  cut  no  figure  in  this  affair. 

Fortunatel}^,  Franklin  prevailed.  However  sin- 
ister may  have  been  the  designs  of  Arthur  Lee — or, 
rather,  of  the  British  spies  and  informers  whose 
designs  Lee  never  seemed  able  to  detect — the  clear 
foresight,  the  lofty  integrity,  and  the  unbending 
resolution  of  Benjamin  Franklin  easily  overwhelmed 
all,  and  saved  for  its  true  destiny  the  genius  of 
Paul  Jones. 

The  Eanger  had  lain  at  Brest  Dockyard  nearly 
two  months.  Of  that  time  about  one  month  was 
consumed  by  Jones  in  a  trip  to  Amsterdam  to  in- 
spect the  Indien.  This  was  done  at  the  instance  of 
Franklin,  who  had  never  been  able  to  obtain  satis- 
factory information  about  her.  Jones  went  to  Am- 
sterdam in  the  assumed  character  of  a  Spanish 
officer  desirous  of  inspecting  the  ship  with  a  view 
to  purchasing  her  for  the  King  of  Spain.  His  jet- 
black  hair  and  eyes,  his  swarthy  complexion,  and  his 
Iberian  cast  of  features,  together  with  his  command 
of  the  Spanish  language,  made  this  guise  easy  for 
him    to    sustain.     No    one    in    Amsterdam,  except 

103 


PAUL   JONES 

diaries  Frederick  Dumas,  our  secret  agent,  knew 
who  he  really  was.  His  disguise  and  the  secrecy  of 
his  movements  were  so  perfect  that  for  once  the 
vigilance  of  the  British  spies,  whom  Arthur  Lee  had 
for  "  private  secretaries,"  was  baffled  and  outwitted. 

The  result  of  this  mission  was  absolute  assurance 
by  Jones  to  Dr.  Franklin  that  it  would  be  prepos- 
terous for  the  commissioners  to  hope  for  posses- 
sion of  the  Indien  then,  or  anywhere  near  that  time ; 
that  all  hojDe  of  getting  control  of  her  so  long  as 
England,  France,  and  Holland  remained  at  peace, 
must  be  abandoned.  Franklin  then  reluctantly  gave 
up  hope,  verbally  ordered  Jones  to  return  to  the 
Eanger,  and,  as  soon  as  the  weather  would  permit, 
proceed  with  her,  under  his  instructions  of  January 
16th  previous,  to  cruise  on  the  British  coasts. 

Pursuant  to  these  orders,  Jones  returned  to  Brest 
about  the  middle  of  March,  1778.  He  found  that 
during  his  absence  his  first  lieutenant,  Simpson,  had 
stirred  up  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  Bang- 
er's crew ;  telling  them  among  other  things  that 
Jones  had  been  permanently  detached  from  the  ship 
and  that  he  (Simi3Son)  daily  expected  orders  to  sail 
for  home.  When  Jones  found  this  out  he  called 
Simpson  into  his  cabin  and  said  to  him  that  he  had, 
apparently,  raised  an  issue  which,  under  the  pecul- 
iar circumstances,  could  not  be  settled  in  any  other 
way  than  personally. 

"  I  command  this  ship,  Mr.  Simpson,"  he  said, 
*'  by  virtue  of  my  senior  rank,  by  virtue  of  the  reso- 
lution of  Congress  dated  June  14th  last,  and  by 
virtue  of  the  order  of  the  Commissioners  dated 
January  16th  last.     But  I  will  urge  none  of  these 

104 


THE   FEENCH   ALLIANCE 

considerations  upon  you  in  your  present  attitude. 
So  far  as  you  are  concerned,  I  will  say  only  that  I 
command  this  ship  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  I  am 
personally  the  best  man  aboard— a  fact  which  I 
shall  cheerfully  demonstrate  to  you  at  your  pleas- 
ure !  And  I  wish  you  to  signify  your  pleasure  to 
me  here  and  now !  '* 

It  is  doubtless  fortunate  that  Lieutenant  Simpson 
chose  not  to  defy  fate  beyond  that  point.  He  as- 
sured Jones  that  his  attitude  had  been  misunder- 
stood, and  declared  that  he  would  serve  loyally 
under  his  command  as  heretofore.  It  is  a  curious 
illustration  of  the  character  of  Jones  that  as  soon  as 
Simpson  had  yielded  in  this  manner  he  informed 
him  that  he  (Jones)  was  invited  to  dine  ashore  that 
evening  with  the  Commandant  of  the  Brest  Dock- 
yard, and  directed  him  (Simpson)  to  get  ready  and 
go  ashore  with  him,  assuring  him  that  the  French 
officer  would,  in  the  fulness  of  his  hospitality,  be 
glad  to  receive  an  additional  guest. 

This  brought  about  at  least  a  truce  between  Jones 
and  Simpson  that  lasted  throughout  the  Eanger's 
forthcoming  cruise.  Simpson  was  a  brave  man  and, 
for  his  calibre,  a  good  officer.  He  was  a  thorough- 
bred Yankee  sailor  but  a  man  of  less  brain  than  am- 
bition, and  hence  easily  led  astray— as  the  sequel 
soon  proved— by  the  sinister  counsels  of  Arthur 
Lee's  "  private  secretaries,"  Thornton,  and  Hezekiah 
Ford. 

During  such  part  of  the  Eanger's  stay  in  Brest 
Harbor  as  was  not  taken  up  by  his  trip  to  Holland, 
Jones  assiduously  devoted  his  time  to  cultivating  an 
alliance  that  had  an  important  effect  upon  his  des- 

105 


PAUL   JOXES 

tiny.  It  lias  been  observed  early  in  these  pages  that 
in  May,  1775,  he,  by  chance,  made  the  acquaintance 
of  the  young-  Duke  de  Chartres,  while  that  Prince 
was  in  Hampton  Roads  on  a  practice  cruise  in  the 
French  frigate  La  Terpsichore.  This  acquaint- 
ance Jones  promptly  renewed  and  industriously 
cultivated  while  the  Ranger  lay  in  Brest  Harbor  in 
the  spring-  of  1778.  The  "  Sailor  Prince  "  had  not 
forgotten  him.  On  the  contrary,  the  young  Duke  in 
1778  received  with  open  arms  his  chance  acquaint- 
ance of  1775.  He  did  not  receive  him  merely  as  a 
naval  officer  paying  a  call  of  ceremony  aboard  his 
ilag-ship,  but  he  took  him  ashore  and  presented  him 
to  his  Duchess,  Mary  Adelaide  of  Bourbon-Penthie- 
vre,  the  best,  purest,  bravest,  and  most  liberal  woman 
of  her  time  in  France — and  the  richest  as  well. 

The  Duchess  de  Chartres  instantly  took  a  fancy 
to  the  dark,  slender,  distingue  "  Chevalier,  sans  titre, 
de  la  mer  " — "the  untitled  knight  of  the  sea,"  as  she 
used  to  call  him  ;  and  Paul  Jones  at  once  became 
a  welcome  visitor  at  her  cottage-palace  at  Brest. 
The  afternoon  before  the  Ranger  sailed,  the  Duch- 
ess de  Chartres  gave  a  luncheon  to  Captain  Jones 
at  which  the  Count  d'Orvilliers  was  present.  The 
Duchess  was  granddaughter  of  the  Count  de  Tou- 
louse, son  of  Louis  XIV.  by  Madame  de  Montes- 
pan ;  and  her  grandfather  had  commanded  the 
French  fleet  in  the  great  battle  with  the  allied 
English  and  Dutch  fleets  off  Malaga,  August  24  and 
25,  1704. 

That  battle  was,  up  to  that  time,  the  most  credit- 
able— or,  perhaps,  least  discreditable — to  the  French 
Navy,  of  all  its  encounters  with  the  fleets  of  Eng- 

106 


THE   FRENCH   ALLIANCE 

land  •  and  the  Duchess  took  infinite  pride  in  the 
exploit  of  her  ancestor.     In  some  way  the  subject 
of  the  battle  off  Malaga  was  brought   up  at   this 
luncheon.   Jones,  whose  studies  of  naval  history  fully 
equipped  him  for  the  discussion,  made  bold  to  tra- 
verse a  criticism  offered  by  d'Orvilliers  on  the  fail- 
ure of  de  Toulouse  to  follow  the  Anglo-Dutch  fleets 
under  Sir  George  Kooke  when  they  retreated  toward 
Gibraltar  after  two  days'  fighting.     In  this  debate 
Jones  who  took  the  side  of  de  Toulouse,  displayed 
knowledge  of  the  strategy  and  tactics  of  that  great 
combat  which  challenged  the  admiration  of  d;Orvil  - 
iers  himself,  as  well  as  that  of  all  the  other  French 
officers  present.    In  the  course  of  his  review  of  the 
event  he  showed  that  he  knew  to  a  ship,  to  a  gun, 
and  almost  to  a  man,  the  strength  of  the  respective 
fleets.     He  also  exhibited  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  the  grand  strategy  of  the  campaign  as  a  whole,  and 
an  accurate  understanding  of  the  political  bearing 
of  the  operations  upon  the  dynastic  questions  in- 
volved in  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succession.    This 
amazed  d'Orvilliers,  who  had  previously  regarded 
him  with  a  sort  of  patronizing  interest  as  a  Yankee 
skipper  of  something  more  than  usual  dash  and 

cleverness.  -,  i-   i  .    ri    i.i  ^ 

But  if  it  amazed  d'Orvilliers  it  delighted  the 
Duchess  de  Chartres  beyond  expression,  because 
she  cherished  above  all  things  the  memory  of  her 
grandfather's  career  in  the  French  Navy.  Before  the 
dinner  was  over,  she  sent  an  attendant  to  bring  Irom 
her  iewel-case  a  Louis  Quinze  watch  of  rare  design 
and  great  value,  which  her  grandfather  had  worn 
and  she  presented  it  to  Captain  Jones  m  token  ot 

107 


PAUL   JONES 

his  appreciation  of  her  grandfather's  character  and 
career. 

Jones,  though  in  his  turn  amazed,  was  too  thor- 
ough a  sailor  to  be  "  taken  aback."  He  accepted 
the  priceless  gift  as  gracefully  as  it  had  been  of- 
fered to  him,  and  said  to  the  Duchess,  with  his 
thanks :  "  May  it  please  your  Royal  Highness,  if 
fortune  should  favor  me  at  sea,  I  will  some  day 
lay  an  English  frigate  at  your  feet !  " 


108 


CHAPTEE  YI 
THE    CAPTURE    OF  THE    DRAKE 

Sailing  from  Brest  April  10th,  tlie  Kanger  at  first 
shaped  her  course  for  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  but 
the  second  day  out  a  westerly  gale  impelled  Captain 
Jones  to  alter  his  cruising  plan  to  the  extent  of  run- 
ning up  through  St.  George's  Channel  into  the  Irish 
Sea""    On  this  course  he  cruised  to  the  northward 
until  he  reached  the  Irish  Channel.     His  original 
intention  had  been  to  make  the  complete  circuit  of  the 
British  Isles,  going  up  the  west  coast,  thence  north- 
about  and  down  the  east  coast,  and  through  the  Chan- 
nel back  to  Brest.     This,  as  he  said  in  his  journal  of 
1782,  was  "  a  provisional  plan,  subject  of  course  to 
change  or  modification  according  to  circumstances 

and  events." 

AiTiving  on  the  Cumberland  coast  and  learning 
from  fishermen  decoyed  on  board  that  there  was  a 
large  amount  of  shipping  in  the  harbor  of  White- 
haven, with  no  warship  of    superior  force  in   the 
neighborhood  to  protect  it,  and  wishing  also  to  take 
advantage   of   his  intimate   personal  knowledge  of 
that  harbor  and  its  approaches,  he  resolved  to  make 
a  descent  with  a  view  of  destroying  the  ships  in  port 
there.     Up  to  that  time  the  British  authorities  had 
no  suspicion  of  his  presence  in  the  Irish  Sea.    It  was 

109 


PAUL    JONES 

fortunate  tliat  lioad-winds  on  the  lltli  and  12tli  of 
April  deterred  him  from  his  projected  course  up  the 
west  coast  of  Irehind,  because  Arthur  Lee's  private 
secretar}^,  Thornton,  had  advised  the  British  Ad- 
miralty as  to  the  plan  of  the  cruise,  and  that  infor- 
mation was  actually  in  London  a  day  or  two  before 
Jones  sailed  from  Brest.  Promptly  acting  upon 
Thornton's  advices,  the  Admiralty  had  ordered  a 
thirty-two-gun  frigate  and  two  heavy  sloops-of-war 
to  the  west  coast  of  L^eland.  These  vessels  sailed 
from  Plymouth  the  day  after  Jones  left  Brest,  but 
were  compelled  to  put  into  Falmouth  by  the  same 
westerly  gale  that  caused  the  Banger  to  sheer  off 
into  the  Irish  Sea.  As  soon  as  the  gale  abated, 
the  frigate  and  the  two  sloops  proceeded  to  their 
station,  where,  of  course,  they  could  not  find 
Jones. 

As  the  Ranger  approached  Whitehaven  the  wind 
still  held  to  the  westward,  making  her  destination 
a  lee-shore,  and  it  was  necessary  to  stand  off  and  on 
for  two  or  three  days.  Finally  the  wind  hauled  to 
the  eastward,  and  the  Banger  at  once  beat  up  toward 
the  town.  The  wind  died  out  about  midnight  of  April 
22d,  before  the  ship  had  got  as  near  the  port  as  Jones 
desired,  but,  having  no  time  to  lose,  he  decided  to 
make  the  attempt,  anyhow.  He  took  command  of 
the  expedition  in  person.  It  consisted,  besides  him- 
self, of  Third  Lieutenant  Walliugford,  Midshipmen 
Arthur  Green  and  Charles  Hill,  and  twenty-nine 
seamen,  in  two  boats. 

The  surprise  was  complete.  The  tAvo  small  forts 
at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  were  precipitately  aban- 
doned by  their  garrison  of  "  coast-guards,"  one  be- 

110 


THE  CAPTURE   OF   THE    DRAKE 

ing  taken  by  Captain  Jones,  Midshipman  Green,  and 
six  men ;  the  other  by  Midshipman  Hill  and  ten 
men,  while  Lieutenant  Wallingford  with  eight  men 
landed  above  the  point,  leaving  only  four  men  as 
boat-guard.  The  long  pull  from  the  ship  had  con- 
sumed some  time,  so  that  when  the  three  parties 
reached  the  tidal  basin  in  which  the  shijiping  lay,  it 
was  nearly  daylight.  There  had  been  no  real  resist- 
ance, but  a  few  musket  and  pistol  shots  had  been 
fired,  and  the  town,  or  at  least  that  part  of  it  nearest 
the  harbor,  was  thoroughly  aroused.  Besides,  it 
was  now  full  daylight,  and  the  insignificance  of 
Jones's  force  became  evident  to  the  townspeople,  who 
were  rallying  from  all  directions.  Fires  had  been 
kindled  aboard  several  ships  in  the  basin,  but  they 
had  all  gone  out  or  been  extinguished  except  one. 
The  necessity  for  immediate  retreat  to  the  ship  was 
clear  to  all,  and  there  was  no  time  to  lose.  The  land- 
ing-party, small  as  it  was,  had  become  separated  into 
two  groups,,  one  commanded  by  Jones,  the  other  by 
Wallingford.  Jones,  thinking  that  Wallingford's 
party  was  more  seriously  menaced  for  the  moment 
than  his  own,  attacked  and  dispersed  with  his  dozen 
men  a  force  of  about  one  hundred  of  the  local  militia 
who  were  endeavoring  to  retake  the  lower  fort  or 
battery,  whose  guns  he  had  already  spiked.  Mean- 
time Wallingford  and  his  party  had  reached  their 
boat,  though  not  without  a  lively  but  not  fatal  skir- 
mish between  Midshipman  Hill,  in  command  of  five 
or  six  men  w^ho  formed  the  rear-guard  of  that  party, 
and  a  considerable  number  of  the  townspeople  and 
coast-guards  who  tried  to  intercept  them.  With 
these  unimportant  exceptions  the  whole  landing- 
Ill 


PAUL   JONES 

force  except  one  man  *  got  safely  into  the  boats  and 
were  on  board  the  Ranger  again  before  the  sun  was 
an  hour  high. 
Jones  says  of  this  enterprise  : 

Its  actual  results  were  of  little  moment,  for  the  intended 
destruction  of  shipping  was  limited  to  one  vessel.  But  the 
moral  effect  of  it  was  very  great,  as  it  taught  the  English 
that  the  fancied  security  of  their  coasts  was  a  myth,  and 
thereby  compelled  their  Government  to  take  expensive 
measures  for  the  defence  of  numerous  ports  hitherto  relying 
for  protection  wholly  on  the  vigilance  and  supposed  om- 
nipotence of  their  navy.  It  also  doubled  or  more  the  rates 
of  insurance,  which  in  the  long  run  proved  the  most  griev- 
ous damage  of  all. 

The  foregoing  is  an  extract  from  a  report  in  which 
he  requests  that  special  reward  be  given  to  the  men 
who  formed  the  landing-party. 

As  soon  as  all  were  safely  aboard  the  Eanger, 
Jones  bore  up  for  the  north  shore  of  Solway  Firth, 
which  was  not  more  than  three  hours'  sail,  and  made 

*Thi3  man  was  Jonathan  Wells,  able  seaman,  hailing  from  Ports- 
mouth. He  remained  too  long  in  a  ship  that  had  been  set  on  fire, 
trying  to  find  a  tar-barrel  to  feed  the  flames,  and  was  thereby  cut  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  party.  However,  he  was  cunning  enough  to  make 
the  English  believe  that  he  had  deserted,  and  not  long  afterward  suc- 
ceeded in  shipping  on  board  a  British  transport  bound  to  America.  Soon 
after  arriving  in  New  York  he  deserted  from  the  British,  went  to  New- 
port, and  after  some  adventures  in  privateers,  shipped  in  the  Alliance 
when  she  went  to  France,  carrying  Lafayette,  early  in  1779.  On  arriv- 
ing at  rOrient  and  finding  that  Jones  was  fitting  out  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  Wells  made  himself  known  to  the  Commodore,  who  promptly 
had  him  transferred  to  the  Richard.  Wells  gave  his  name  as  "  David 
Freeman  "  in  this  affair,  and  the  local  paper — the  Cumberlafid  Packet — 
of  that  date  published  a  long  article  derived  from  the  *'  information  " 
he  gave. 

112 


THE  CAPTURE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

another  descent  on  St.  Mary's  Isle,  the  castle  of  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk.  The  object  of  this  foray  has  been 
variously  conjectured.  Jones  himself  stated  frankly 
in  a  letter  to  Lady  Selkirk,  written  soon  afterward, 
which  has  been  widely  published,  that  his  purpose 
was  to  carry  oif  the  Earl,  with  a  view  of  holding 
him  as  hostage  for  the  better  treatment  of  Amer- 
ican prisoners  then  in  England.  In  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Hewes  he  gives  that  reason  and  states  also  that  he 
wished  to  produce  the  impression  that  more  than 
one  American  ship  was  on  the  coast,  and  believed 
that  two  descents  in  one  day  at  points  thirty  or  forty 
miles  apart  would  have  that  effect. 

However,  the  Earl  happened  to  be  away  from 
home,  and  the  only  result  of  the  foray  was  the  ap- 
propriation of  several  pieces  of  silver-ware  from 
the  castle  by  some  of  the  landing-i^arty.  A  vast 
quantity  of  ink  has  been  spilled  over  this  transac- 
tion. It  may  have  been  justifiable  as  an  extreme 
measure  on  the  part  of  a  weak  power  to  alarm  and 
worry  a  strong  power.  But  we  think  the  general 
verdict  is  that  a  project  to  seize  the  person  of  a  non- 
combatant  nobleman  v/ith  a  view  of  holding  him  as 
a  hostage  or  of  coercing  him  to  use  his  infiuence 
with  his  government  for  the  better  treatment  of  pris- 
oners of  war,  fairly  captured,  can  hardly  be  brought 
within  the  most  liberal  definition  of  civilized  war- 
fare. The  fact  that  it  had  many  examx3les  in  the 
conduct  of  British  landing-parties  on  our  own  coast 
is  no  justification.  Two  wrongs  do  not  make  one 
right.  It  is  doubtless  fortunate  for  the  fame  of 
Paul  Jones  that  he  did  not  find  the  Earl  of  Selkirk 
at  home  ;  because,  had  Jones  captured  him  and 
Vol.  T.— 8  113 


TAUL   JONES 

taken  liim  to  France,  the  act  could  not  have  failed 
to  produce  unpleasant  complications,  and  it  must 
certainly  have  injured  Jones's  reputation  in  the 
higher  circles  of  France  at  a  time  when  the  good 
opinion  of  that  class  of  peo^Dle  in  that  country  was 
indispensable  to  his  future  success. 

As  for  the  few  pieces  of  plate  that  were  taken, 
Jones  purchased  them  from  the  captors  at  his  own 
expense,  and,  after  considerable  trouble  and  delay, 
succeeded  in  restoring*  them  to  the  Earl,  v»'ho  ac- 
knowledged the  restitution  in  a  letter  from  which 
the  following  is  an  extract : 

Notwithstanding  all  the  precautions  you  took  for  the 
easy  and  uninterrupted  conveyance  of  the  plate,  yet  it  met 
with  considerable  delays;  first  at  Calais,  then  at  Dover,  then 
at  London  ;  however,  it  at  last  arrived  at  Dumfries.  .  .  . 
I  have  mentioned  it  to  many  people  of  fashion  ;  and  on  all 
occasions,  sir,  both  now  and  formerly,  I  have  done  you  the 
justice  to  tell  that  you  made  an  offer  of  returning  the  plate 
very  soon  after  your  return  to  Brest. 

The  cost  to  Jones  of  buying  the  plate  from  the 
captors  and  shipping  it  from  Brest  to  Dumfries  was 
about  £140— say  $700. 

During  the  night  of  April  23d  the  Eanger  stood 
across  the  Irish  Channel,  and  the  next  day  Jones 
leai'ned  from  some  fishermen  whose  boats  he  picked 
up  that  the  Drake,  twenty-gun  sloop-of-war,  guard- 
ship  at  Carrickfergus,  was  coming  out  in  search  of 
him.  He  had  already  looked  into  Carrickfergus  on 
the  21st,  and  would  have  attacked  the  Drake,  then 
at  anchor  in  the  roadstead,  but  for  the  contrary  wind. 
Now,  as  he  describes  it,  "  to   save  trouble,  I   ran 

114 


THE  CAPTURE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

down  again,  hove  to  off  the  mouth  of  Belfast  Lou.^h, 
and  waited  for  the  Drake  to  work  out,  which  saved 
me  the  pains  of  going  in  after  her."  As  he  hove  to, 
the  Drake  sent  one  of  her  boats  out  to  reconnoitre, 
and  Jones  succeeded  in  decoying  the  boat  aboard 
the  Eanger,  making  prisoners  of  the  midshipman 
and  five  men  in  her.  The  Drake  had  wind  and  tide 
both  against  her,  and  worked  out  so  slowly  that  it 
lacked  only  an  hour  of  sundown  when  she  got  with- 
in hail.  Jones's  official  report  of  the  action  that 
followed  is  included  in  his  general  account  of  the 
cruise  to  the  commissioners,  dated  Brest,  May  27, 
1778.  It  is  terse  and  formal,  occupying  only  a  sin- 
gle paragraph  in  the  general  report,  and  has  been 
doubtless  more  widely  and  more  often  printed  than 
any  other  report  of  an  action  between  ships  of 
such  comparative  unimportance.  But,  small  as  the 
ships  were,  this  action  involved  the  turning  of  a  new 
page  in  naval  history,  and  to  that  fact  alone  it  owes 
its  celebrity.  It  was  the  first  instance,  in  modern 
naval  warfare,  of  the  capture  of  a  regular  British 
man-of-war  by  a  ship  of  inferior  force.  In  that  re- 
spect it  "  broke  a  record  "  that  had  been  inviolate 
since  the  beginning  of  regular  navies,  and  it  an- 
nounced to  mankind  the  advent  of  a  new  sea-power. 
From  that  point  of  view  the  size  and  rate  of  the 
ships  were  immaterial.  Jones's  official  report,  re- 
ferred to,  is  not  particularly  interesting,  and,  as  most 
well-read  school-boys  have  it  by  heart,  it  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  reproduce  its  text  here. 

The  real,  vivid,  masterly  description— the  best 
extant— is  found  in  a  personal  letter  written  by 
Captain  Jones  to  Joseph  Hewes,  May  22, 1778,  about 

115 


PAUL   JONES 

two  weeks  after  his  return  to  Brest.  Mr.  Hewes 
was  not  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  having  been  compelled  by  ill-health  to 
retire  from  public  life ;  to  which  Jones  at  the  out- 
set of  his  letter  refers  with  characteristic  feeling. 
He  says : 

.  .  .  The  public  misfortune  of  your  retirement  from 
the  Committee  and  from  Congress  in  consequence  of  failing 
health,  and  the  resulting  fact  that  you,  perhaps,  do  not 
now  enjoy  the  readiness  of  access  to  official  sources  of  in- 
formation you  formerly  did,  and  the  great  individual  obli- 
gation I  owe  you,  make  it  more  than  ever  my  duty  to  keep 
you  personally  advised  of  my  movements. 

I  need  not  assure  you  that  this  is  a  welcome  duty,  much 
as  I  deplore  the  cause  of  it,  for  the  reason  that  I  know 
there  is  no  person  living  to  whom  news  of  my  success  can 
bring  more  satisfaction  than  to  yourself.  And  you  are 
surely  entitled  to  such  satisfaction,  because  you,  more  than 
anj'^  other  person,  have  labored  to  place  the  instruments  of 
success  in  my  hands. 

I  assume  you  will  have  seen,  before  this  can  reach  you, 
that  on  the  late  afternoon  of  April  24th  past  the  Ranger, 
under  my  command,  oS  Carrickfergus,  took  H.  B.  M.  sloop- 
of-war  the  Drake,  twenty  guns,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  officers  and  men,  after  a  hard-fought  battle  of  one 
hour,  four  minutes,  pure  and  simple  broadsiding  at  close 
range.  In  this  connection  I  may  say  that  at  the  time  of 
going  into  action  I  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-six,  all 
hands,  at  quarters,  and  eighteen  guns.  The  Drake's  bat- 
tery is  sixteen  nine-pounders  and  four  four-pounders  ;  the 
Ranger's  fourteen  nine-pounders  and  four  sixes. 

The  result  of  the  action  was  due  entirely  to  the  superior 
gunnery  of  my  crew.  There  was  no  maneuvring  worth 
mention.  As  soon  as  the  two  ships  got  clear  of  tlie  land, 
the  Drake  being  astern  and  within  hail,  both  standing  to 

116 


THE   CAPTUKE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

the  eastward,  the  wind  southerly  and  light,  sea  fairly- 
smooth,  they  hailed  us  :  *  *  What  ship  is  that  ?  "  to  which 
we  replied:  **The  American  Continental  ship  Ranger; 
come  on;  we  are  waiting  for  you."  Both  ships  then  v/ore 
almost  together,  laying  their  heads  to  the  north,  and  going 
off  nearly  before  the  wind,  which  was  no  more  than  enough 
to  make  good  steering  way. 

Our  broadside  was  just  an  instant  the  first.  The  enemy's 
fire  was  spirited,  but,  for  a  King's  ship,  very  ineffective. 
This  I  can  attribute  only  to  the  distress  and  confusion 
caused  on  board  of  her  by  the  remarivable  effect  of  our  fire. 
The  range  was  close,  hardly  more  than  musket  shot  at  any 
time.  Her  crew,  as  I  can  judge  from  the  prisoners  taken, 
was  fully  up  to  the  British  man-of-war  standard.  Yet  in 
the  hour  of  cannonading  our  loss  was  only  two  killed  and 
six  wounded — one  mortally.  Tlie  Ranger  did  not  suffer  in 
hull  or  spars  or  rigging  enough  to  have  prevented  her  from 
fighting  again  the  next  morning  if  necessary.  But  the 
Drake  was  almost  wrecked,  and  she  lost  nineteen  killed  or 
died  of  wounds,  including  her  captain  and  first  lieutenant, 
and  twenty-eight  officers  and  men  severely  wounded,  the 
only  sea  officer  remaining  to  strike  her  flag  being  her  second 
lieutenant. 

The  behavior  of  my  men  in  this  engagement  more  than 
justifies  the  representations  I  have  so  often  made  to  you  of 
what  American  sailors  would  do  if  given  a  chance  at  the 
enemy  in  his  own  waters.  We  have  seen  tliat  they  fight 
with  courage  on  our  own  coast.  But  no  one  has  ever  seen 
them  fight  on  our  coast  as  they  fought  here,  almost  in  liail 
of  the  enemy's  shore.  Every  shot  told,  and  they  gave  the 
Drake  three  broadsides  for  two  riglit  along,  at  that.  * 

*  Captain  Mahan  ("  John  Paul  Jones  in  the  Revolution  ;  "  Scrihner\<i 
ITngazine,  July,  1898)  mtimates  that  there  was  a  mutiny  in  the  Rang- 
er, fomented  by  her  first  lieutenant,  Simpson,  just  before  engaging  the 
Drake.  Other  accounts  to  that  effect  have  been  printed,  and  Captain 
Mahan  doubtless  accepted  them.  Simpson  had  been  more  or  less  insub- 
ordinate ever  since  the  arrival  of  the  Ranger  in  France.     His  manceu- 

117 


PAUL    JONES 

Of  course  I  had  lost  no  opportunity  of  training  them  in 
great-gun  exercise,  both  at  sea  and  in  port.  But  my  supply 
of  ammunition  would  never  admit  of  actual  target  practice, 
so  the  precision  of  their  fire  was  simply  natural  aptitude. 

I  have  never  before  seen  men  handle  guns  as  they  han- 
dled the  Ranger's  nine-pounders,     .     .     . 

As  the  two  ships  were  going  off  the  wind,  which  was 
light,  they  both  rolled  considerably  and  together  ;  that  is, 
•when  the  Ranger  went  down  to  port  the  Drake  came  up  to 
starboard.  Quite  early  in  the  action  I  noticed  that  my 
quarter  gunners  had  caught  the  Drake's  period  of  roll  and 
were  timing  to  fire  as  their  muzzles  went  dow  n  and  the  en- 
emy's side  came  up.  By  this  practice  they  Avere  hulling  the 
Drake  prodigiously  below  the  water  line,  and  everj^vhere 
below  the  plank-sheer,  though  damaging  her  but  little  aloft. 
Being  near  Quarter-Gunner  Owen  Starbuck,  of  Nantucket, 
at  the  moment,  I  asked  him  why  they  fired  that  way,  and 
he  replied  :  '*  To  sink  the  English  b s,  sir  !  " 

I  then  told  Starbuck  and  the  others  that  it  was  not  my 
policy  to  sink  the  Drake,  but  that  I  wished  to  take  her  alive 
instead  of  destroying  her  ;  explaining  that  it  would  be  much 
more  to  our  advantage  to  carry  her  as  a  visible  prize  into 
a  French  port.  The  alert  fellows  instantly  took  this  hint 
and  began  firing  as  their  muzzles  rose,  by  w^hich  practice 
they  soon  crippled  the  Drake's  spars  and  rigging,  and  made 
her  an  unmanageable  log  on  the  water.     I  am  persuaded 

vring  of  the  Drake  as  prize  master  during  the  return  voyage  to  Brest  in- 
dicated an  intention  to  part  company  with  the  Ranger  if  he  could.  And 
he  was  rankly  insubordinate  after  they  reached  Brest.  But  in  the  ac- 
tion itself  he  seems  to  have  done  his  duty  like  a  man.  Jones  makes  no 
mention  of  mutiny  ofT  Can-ickfergus  ;  either  in  his  official  report  to  the 
American  Commissioners,  dated  Brest,  JNIay  27,  1778,  or  in  his  private 
letters  to  Joseph  Hewes,  Robert  Morris,  and  Franklin.  On  the  contrary, 
in  a  severe  letter  to  Simpson  himself,  which  will  be  found  on  a  subse- 
quent page,  he  expressl}*  commends  that  officer's  conduct  in  the  action — 
and  he  does  it  by  way  of  emphasizing  criticism  on  his  misconduct  else- 
where. In  all  his  papers  Jones  speaks  of  the  conduct  of  his  crew  in  the 
highest  terms. 

118 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

that  if  I  had  not  advised  them  to  this  effect,  my  gunners 
would  liave  sunk  the  Drake  in  an  hour !  As  it  was,  we  had 
to  put  spare  sails  over  the  side  after  she  struck,  to  keep  her 
afloat,  and  careen  lier  as  much  as  we  could  the  next  day  to 
plug  the  holes  they  had  already  made  between  wind  and 
water.  While  I  am  telling  you  about  the  behavior  of  my 
men,  I  must  not  forget  to  mention  that  at  the  moment 
when  the  Drake's  fore  and  main  topsail  yards  came  down 
on  the  caps,  and  she  fell  off,  giving  us  the  chance  to  luff 
under  her  stern  and  rake  her,  I  was  in  the  forward  division, 
in  consequence  of  Lieutenant  Wallingford  being  killed,  and 
at  once  started  to  run  aft  to  the  wheel  to  order  the  helm 
down  for  the  manoeuvre.  But  before  I  got  to  the  mainmast 
the  fore  and  main  topsails  were  already  shivering,  because 
Chief  Quartermaster  Nathan  Sargent,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
who  had  the  wheel,  had  already  seen  our  chance  and  had 
taken  upon  himself  the  important  responsibility  of  luffing 
ship  without  orders  ;  thus  anticipating  my  intention,  and 
leaving  me  nothing  to  do  but  order  the  starboard  tacks  on 
board  to  keep  her  full  and  shift  the  broadside  for  raking, 
when,  luckily,  the  enemy,  realizing  his  helpless  situation, 
called  for  quarter  and  spared  further  bloodshed.  The  un- 
fortunate loss  of  Lieutenant  Wallingford  in  the  action  en- 
abled m.e  to  advance  Mr.  Sargent  to  the  post  of  Acting 
Master.  But  I  regret  to  say  that  since  our  return  here  he 
has  found  it  to  his  advantage  to  leave  me,  being  offered 
command  of  a  large  French  privateer  of  twenty-six  guns 
belonging  to  Monsieur  de  Chaumont  and  Monsieur  Mar- 
cereau,  now  fitting  out  at  St.  Malo.  As  Mr.  Sargent  is 
master  of  the  French  language,  this  command  will  enable 
him  to  better  his  fortunes,  and  in  view  of  the  sorry  hopes 
of  recompense  in  tlie  Continental  service  I  could  not  with- 
hold my  consent  to  his  going,  or  to  his  taking  with  him 
eight  others  of  my  New  Hampshire  men,  whom  he  will 
make  officers  in  his  new  ship,  the  Marseille.  Our  seamen 
who  can  speak  French  are  in  great  request  here  for  officers 
in  privateers. 

119 


PAUL   JONES 

Doubtless  the  best  idea  I  can  give  you  of  the  gunnery  of 
my  men  will  be  found  in  the  report  and  estimate  of  my 
most  efficient  carpenter,  Mr.  William  Hicliburn,  of  Salem, 
a  shipwright  of  much  experience.  I  enclose  with  this  a 
copy  of  that  report  *  as  handed  by  me  to  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Dockyard  here  (Brest)  when  permission  was  got  to 
repair  the  Drake  here  at  the  expense  of  the  French.  I  also 
send  a  track  chart  of  the  cruise. 

Continuing  to  Mr.  Hewes,  Jones  says : 

My  loss,  though  small  in  number,  was  severe  in  quality. 
My  third  lieutenant,  Mr.  R.  Wallingford,  known  to  you 
personally,  was  killed.     By  his  death  the  sei-vice  has  lost 

*'' Report  and  Estimate:  Respectfully  Submitted.  .  .  . 
Having  fully  examined  the  hull,  spars,  and  Tinging  of  H.  B.  M.'s  late  ship 
the  Drake,  I  estimate  that  the  repairs  necessary  in  order  to  refit  the  ves- 
sel for  commission  and  sea  service  will  cost  about  three  thousand  louis 
d'ors,  French  money,  or  say  2,700  guineas,  English. 

"  She  has  in  her  hull  below  the  plank  sheer  one  hundred  and  seven  shot 
holes,  of  which  thirty-six  are  at  or  below  the  water  line.  Her  upper 
works,  boats,  spare  spars,  and  deck  fittings  generally  are  completely 
wrecked,  wheel  shot  away,  capstan  split  and  jammed,  and  spanker  boom 
nearly  cut  in  two.  Several  butts  in  her  counter  and  in  the  bends  for- 
ward have  been  started  by  shot.  Five  of  her  nine  gun  carriages  in  broad- 
side have  been  wrecked  and  the  guns  dismounted.  The  after  breeching 
bolts  in  the  starboard  bridle  port  have  been  carried  away,  the  same  shot 
disabling  also  her  port  bow  chaser.  She  has  three  bad  wounds  in  her 
foremast,  weakening  it  so  much  that  she  has  not  been  able  to  carry 
a  whole  foretopsail  since  the  action  ;  notwithstanding  that  we  fished  it 
as  well  as  we  could  at  sea  the  day  after.  Her  standing  and  running 
rigging  is  much  damaged.  She  needs  new  slings,  braces,  stays,  and  hal- 
liards on  the  fore  and  main,  a  new  capstan,  a  new  sjiauker  boom,  a  new 
wheel,  and  very  considerable  new  wood  work  in  cabin  and  quarters  to 
replace  that  stove  by  shot.  I  estimate  that  she  was  struck  in  hull,  spars, 
and  rigging  by  nearly  one  hundred  and  eighty  round  shots  besides  many 
grapesiiot.  The  close  range  at  which  the  action  was  fought  made  these 
hits  very  destructive,  many  of  the  shot  going  through  and  through.  The 
Drake  is  a  new  ship,  less  than  three  years  off  the  stocks,  and  is  well  worth 
the  extensive  repairs  made  necessary  by  the  mauling  she  got  from  our 
ship.  VV.  HicuL'-UKN,  Carpenter." 

120 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   THE    DRAKE 

one  of  its  most  promising  young  officers.  I  held  great  expec- 
tations of  Mr.  Wallingford.  Midshipman  Powers  and  Gun- 
ner Falls,  both  most  excellent  officers,  are  severely  wounded, 
Mr.  Powers  losing  his  left  arm.  Of  the  enlisted  men,  Quar- 
termaster John  Dougall  and  Nathaniel  Wills  are  dead,  and 
able  seamen  Mark  Staples,  David  Sargent,  and  Matthew 
Starbuck  are  wounded  severely,  but  now  doing  well. 

After  the  action  I  returned  round  the  west  coast  of  Ireland 
in  good  time,  with  no  noteworthy  incident  except  taking 
a  prize  off  Malin  Head,  Ireland.  She  was  bound  from  the 
Baltic,  northabout,  with  naval  stores,  and  is  a  valuable 
prize.  On  the  whole  I  was  out  of  port  twenty-eight  days, 
took  six  merchant  prizes,  of  which  I  destroyed  three  and  the 
other  three  are  safe  in  French  ports  ;  besides  taking  and 
bringing  in  a  regular  man-of-war  of  the  enemy,  slightly 
superior  in  force  to  my  ship. 

Trusting  that  this  may  find  you  improved  in  health  and 
able  to  resume  your  important  labor  for  our  common  cause, 
I  am,  etc.* 

During  tlie  niglit  and  next  day  after  this  battle 
the  sea  remained  smooth,  with  light  airs  from  the 

*  The  English  papers  made  every  effort  to  minimize  the  significance  of 
this  victory.  The  captain— Burden— of  the  Drake  and  the  first  lieuten- 
ant were  killed.  The  next  in  rank,  who  surrendered  the  ship,  was 
wounded  and  held  prisoner  more  than  a  year,  and  he  did  not  undergo  the 
usual  court-martial  until  nearly  eighteen  months  afterward.  His  testi- 
mony was  that  the  Drake's  twenty  guns  were  only  four-pounders.  If 
that  was  true,  someone  must  have  mounted  a  new  battery  on  her  before 
she  was  sold  as  a  prize  at  Brest ;  because  the  voucher  for  her  in  the 
archives  of  the  French  Admiralty  describes  her  battery  as  sixteen  nine- 
pounders  and  four  four-pounders.  ("Seize  pieces  de  neuf  livres  de 
balle  et  quatre  pieces  de  quatre.")  Professor  Laughton,  a  distinguished 
and  usually  reliable  English  authority  on  such  subjects,  accepts  the  state- 
ment of  the  officer  who  was  court-martialed  and  argues  from  it  that  the 
Drake  was  really  outclassed  by  the  Ranger  in  weight  of  metal.  Vv'ith 
this  summary  of  the  evidence  we  leave  the  issue  between  Professor 
Laughton  and  the  archives  of  the  French  Admiralty. 

121 


PAUL   JONES 

southward,  which  made  it  possible  to  effect  tempo- 
rary repairs  to  the  Drake  sufficient  to  get  her  under 
way  again.  Jones  now  reluctantly  gave  up  his  pro- 
jected cruise  around  Scotland  and  down  the  east 
coast.  Of  his  original  complement  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-nine,  all  told,  two  officers  and  ten  men 
had  been  put  in  prizes  taken  in  St.  George's  Chan- 
nel. One  man  had  been  left  behind  in  the  descent 
on  Whitehaven.  Eight  had  been  killed  or  wounded 
in  the  action  with  the  Drake.  It  had  been  necessary 
to  put  thirty-two  officers  and  men  on  that  prize  partly 
in  consequence  of  her  crippled  condition  and  partly 
to  guard  the  large  part  of  her  crew  left  as  prisoners 
on  board  of  her.  This  left  the  Ranger  with  only 
eighty-six,  all  hands  ;  and  Jones,  of  course,  saw  that 
the  cruise  was  ended.  He  therefore,  as  the  twent}'- 
four  hours  of  drifting  northwestward  had  carried 
the  ships  clear  of  the  north  coast  of  Ireland,  shaped 
his  course  to  the  westward  and  southward  until  well 
clear  of  the  mouth  of  the  English  Channel,  and 
then  bore  up  for  Brest,  where  he  anchored  after 
dark  in  the  outer  roadstead,  the  8th  of  May,  with 
the  Drake  and  the  merchant  prize  taken  after  the 
battle. 

Jones  knew  that  by  this  time  France  and  England 
must  be  at  least  on  the  eve  of  war,  if  not  actually  at 
it.  He  knew  that  the  Treaty  of  Alliance  between 
France  and  the  United  States,  the  moment  it  should 
be  officially  promulgated,  would  save  the  trouble  of 
a  declaration  of  war ;  because  England,  under  the 
haughty  and  arrogant  policy  of  Lord  North,  must 
take  the  alliance  itself  as  the  index  of  a  state  of  war, 
without  formal  declaration.     And  he  had  reason  to 

123 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

believe  that  such  official  knowledge  might,  likely, 
have  transpired  during  his  cruise. 

Just  before  Jones  sailed  from  Brest,  AjDril  10th, 
the  Count  d'Orvilliers,  evidently  anticipating  the 
outbreak  of  active  hostilities  between  France  and 
England  before  his  return,  had  intrusted  to  him  the 
private  signal-book  of  the  French  Navy ;  and,  not 
only  that,  but  also  the  special  codes  of  night  signals 
to  pass  the  forts  and  batteries  of  Brest,  1' Orient, 
Eochef ort,  and  la  Kochelle — a  confidence,  by  the  way, 
never  before  reposed  by  a  French  commander-in- 
chief  in  the  senior  officer  of  any  foreign  naval  power. 
It  hapiDened  that  Jones,  with  his  prizes,  apxDroached 
the  outer  road  of  Brest  some  time  after  dark.  May 
8th.  He  at  once  saw  by  the  moving  lights  of  the 
guard-frigates  standing  oif  and  on  below  Point  St» 
Mathieu  that  the  grand  fleet  was  anchored  in  the 
roadstead  ready  for  war,  because  the  four  frig- 
ates on  guard  were  all  under  way  patrolling  the 
cut  de  sac  between  Usliant  and  the  mainland,  and 
as  he  came  down  inside  of  Ushant  and  brought 
Point  St.  Mathieu  on  his  port  bow,  the  frigate  La 
Belle  Poule  showed  her  number  and  private  night 
signal  about  gunshot  off  on  his  starboard  bow. 

Jones  answered  with  the  private  night  signal  of 
a  French  cruiser  making  port,  gave  the  s^Decial 
private  number  that  d'Orvilliers  had  fixed  for  the 
Pianger,  and  then,  when  these  signals  had  been 
properly  answered,  informed  the  Belle  Poule  by 
the  ordinary  code  that  he  had  under  his  lee  two 
prizes,  one  of  which  was  lately  an  enemy's  sliiiD-of- 
war  of  superior  force.  The  Belle  Poule  repeated 
these  signals  to  the  Licorne,  the  guard-frigate  next 

123 


PAUL   JONES 

astern  of  her,  and  then  the  two  French  frigates 
tog-ether  bore  down  within  haiL 

To  the  formal  night  hail,  "  Who  are  you  and  what 
is  your  prize  ?  "  Jones  answered  over  the  Ranger's 
taffrail :  "  The  American  Continental  ship  Eanger, 
of  eighteen  guns,  Captain  Paul  Jones,  and  the  man- 
of-war  prize  is  His  Britannic  Majesty's  late  ship  the 
Drake,  of  twenty  guns.  The  other  prize  a-lee  is  a 
merchant  ship,  not  armed !  " 

The  Belle  Poule  then  escorted  the  Ranger  and  her 
prizes  inside  of  Point  St.  Mathieu  and  ordered  them 
to  anchor  under  the  lee  of  Roscanuel  Point.  Jones 
was  delighted  wdth  the  cautious  formality  of  this  re- 
ception, because  he  knew  it  meant  a  state  of  war  be- 
tvreen  France  and  England,  and  also  that  it  meant 
the  preparedness  of  the  French  fleet  for  action, 
which  had  not  been  the  case  when  he  sailed  a  month 
before. 

When  the  Belle  Poule  had  escorted  Jones  and  his 
prizes  to  their  anchorage  under  Roscanuel,  she  re- 
sumed her  station  outside.  It  was  now  near  mid- 
night, and  of  course  there  was  no  further  demonstra- 
tion. But  early  in  the  morning  Jones  put  off  in  his 
boat  and  boarded  the  Saint  Esprit,  flag-ship  of  the 
van  division  of  the  fleet,  and  asked  permission  to 
pass  into  the  inner  harbor.  By  that  time  the  vicinity 
of  the  Ranger  and  her  prizes  was  thronged  with  boats 
from  all  the  French  ships  in  sight.  The  French 
officers  satisfied  themselves  by  personal  inspection 
from  their  boats  that  an  American  ship  had  actually 
taken  and  brought  into  port  an  English  sliip  of  su- 
perior force.  The  ships  were  small.  But  there  they 
were,   anchored  close  alongside ;    the    conquering 

124 


THE  CAPTUKE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

American  and  tlie  conquered  Englishman  ;  and  the 
Englishman  was  the  more  powerful  of  the  two. 

Such  an  exhibit  may  have  been  the  picture  in 
Jones's  brain  when,  in  the  heat  of  the  battle,  he  told 
Owen  Starbuck  that  it  was  not  his  policy  to  sink 
the  Drake  ;  that  it  would  be  much  more  to  their  ad- 
vantage to  take  her  alive  and  bring  her  as  a  visible 
prize  into  a  French  port. 

If  so  he  had  realized  his  mind-picture.  He  had 
shown  to  the  French  and  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
that  an  English  ship  could  be  compelled  to  surrender 
to  a  shij)  of  equal,  or  even  inferior,  force.  No  one 
else  had  ever  demonstrated  that.  No  one  would 
have  believed  it  without  seeing  it  in  real  flesh  and 
blood,  or  in  real  wood  and  iron.  That  was  what 
made  Paul  Jones  immortal.  The  little  ships  were 
lost  sight  of  in  the  colossal  fact  that  England  and 
Englishmen  could  be  conquered  on  the  sea ;  a  new 
fact,  before  unknown. 

The  next  day,  as  soon  as  the  necessary  formalities 
had  been  exchanged  and  free  communication  estab- 
lished, the  decks  of  the  Ranger  and  her  prize,  the 
Drake,  were  thronged  with  visiting  French  oflicers. 
Count  d'Orvilliers  sent  his  compliments  and  con- 
gratulations. The  Duke  de  Chartres  came  on  board 
in  person  and  invited  Jones  to  dine  with  him  aboard 
his  flag-shixD,  the  Saint  Esprit. 

After  lying  two  days  at  this  anchorage,  constantly 
receiving  such  attentions,  the  Ranger  and  her  prizes 
got  under  way  and  tided  up  to  the  Dockyard  Harbor 
of  Brest.  Here  Jones's  troubles  began  again.  His 
triumph  had  lasted  about  forty-eight  hours.  His 
trials  and  his  miseries  were  to  last  as  many  weeks. 

125 


PAUL   JONES 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  at  the  inner  harbor  and 
moored  his  ship  and  prizes,  several  problems  of 
quite  a  practical  and  wholly  unsentimental  nature 
confronted  him.  He  had  to  cast  about  him  for 
the  wherewithal  to  clothe  and  feed  his  crew  of  over 
a  hundred  men,  his  prisoners,  numbering*  nearly 
two  hundred,  and,  besides  all  that,  he  had  to  pay 
his  crew.  Naturally,  it  would  be  supposed,  the 
rejDresentatives  of  our  Government  then  in  France 
hastened  to  help  him  in  such  an  emergency.  He 
held  a  letter  of  credit  from  Congress  authorizing 
him  to  draw  on  the  commissioners  for  funds  to 
meet  the  necessary  expenses  of  his  ship,  which,  of 
course,  included  the  cost  incident  to  the  proper 
maintenance  of  any  prisoners  or  prizes  he  might 
take.  Being  wholly  out  of  supplies  of  every  kind,  he 
at  once  negotiated  with  a  merchant  at  Brest,  named 
Bersolle,  to  supply  his  crew  and  prisoners  with  food 
and  such  other  indispensable  things  as  they  might 
need  for  the  time  being-.  He  also  tried  to  provide 
for  repairs  to  the  Banger  and  for  the  overhaul  and 
refit  of  his  battered  and  almost  dismantled  prize, 
the  Drake. 

To  cover  these  expenses  he  drew  on  the  com- 
missioners, by  virtue  of  his  letter  of  credit  from 
Congress,  for  24,000  livres,  in  favor  of  M.  Bersolle, 
under  date  of  May  16, 1778.  On  the  25th  of  May  the 
commissioners  wrote  him  a  letter  in  which,  after 
congratulating  him  on  his  victory,  they  informed 
him  that  they  had  no  authority  to  honor  his  draft 
and  returned  it  to  M.  Bersolle,  protested.  This 
letter  was  signed  by  Dr.  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and 
Arthur  Lee.     It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  willingness 

126 


THE   CAPTUKE  OF   THE   DRAKE 

of  the  two  extremes  of  Massachusetts  Puritan  and 
Virg-inia  Cavalier  to  sign  such  a  letter  as  that ;  but 
the  sig-nature  of  Benjamin  Franklin  is  not  so  easily 
understood.     However,  it  was  there. 

The  incident,  whatever  its  effect  on  other  men 
might  have  been,  only  put  Paul  Jones  on  his  mettle. 
Instantly,  on  receipt  of  the  letter  of  the  commis- 
sioners, he  replied  under  date  of  May  27,  1788,  as 
follows : 

.  .  .  I  conceive  that  this  might  have  been  prevented. 
To  make  me  completely  wretched  M.  Bersolle  (who  was 
supplying  my  ship  and  prizes  on  credit)  now  stops  his  hand, 
not  only  of  the  necessary  articles  to  refit  the  ships,  but  also 
of  the  daily  provisions  for  my  crew  and  prisoners.  I  know 
not  where  or  how  to  provide  food  for  to-morrow's  dinner  to 
feed  the  great  number  of  mouths  that  depend  on  me  for 
food  (one  hundred  and  eighteen  of  my  own  people,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty-one  prisoners  of  the  Drake,  be- 
sides nearly  forty  taken  in  merchant  prizes). 

Are  then  the  Continental  ships  of  war  to  depend  on  sale 
of  their  prizes  for  the  daily  dinner  of  their  men  ? 

Has  it  come  to  this,  that  I  and  my  truly  poor,  brave  men 
must  not  only  fight  without  pay,  but  also  compel  our 
enemy  to  feed  us  ? 

Is,  then,  our  cause  become  so  mendicant  that  men  who  so 
victoriously  defend  it  must  take  not  only  the  chances  of 
death  in  battle,  but  also  face  the  fate  of  beggary  and  even 
starvation  after  they  have  conquered  ? 

Jones  never  did  things  by  halves.  He  not  only 
sent  to  the  commissioners  the  Eng-lish  text  of  this 
fierce  eloquence,  but  he  also  carefully  translated  it 
into  French  and  g^ave  the  French  version  of  it  to  the 
Duke  de  Chartres,  who  at  once  sent  it  to  Maurepas, 

127 


PAUL   JONES 

Yergennes,  and  Calonne.  Jones  wanted  to  print  it 
then  and  there  in  the  Journal  de  la  3Iari?ie,  a  weekly 
paper  published  at  Brest ;  but  the  Duke  and  the 
Count  d'Orvilliers  dissuaded  him  from  this  i^urpose. 

At  that  time  our  infant  Government  had  at  Brest 
what  was  termed  a  "fiscal  agent."  His  name  was 
Schweighauser.  In  their  letter  of  May  25th,  before 
referred  to,  the  commissioners  had  said  :  "  Your  ap- 
plication should  have  been  made  to  M.  Schv/eig- 
hauser,  who  is  the  person  regularly  authorized  to 
act  as  Continental  Agent  at  Brest,"  etc. 

In  his  reply  Jones  did  not  even  mention  their  ref- 
erence to  Schweighauser  or  acknowledge  the  exist- 
ence of  any  "  fiscal  agent."  His  draft  having  been 
protested  by  men  sitting  in  safety  at  Passy,  while 
he  and  his  crew  were  fighting  battles  and  taking 
prizes,  he  took  affairs  into  his  own  hands.  He  at 
once  called  upon  M.  Bersolle  and  offered  to  arrange 
for  the  hypothecation  of  his  Baltic  prize  and  cargo 
for  the  supplies  his  crew  and  prisoners  needed. 

Bersolle,  who  understood  maritime  law  and  admi- 
ralty jurisprudence,  reminded  Jones  that  he  could 
not  make  a  good  title  to  the  shi^D  and  cargo  without 
the  approval  of  the  American  Commissioners.  To 
this  Jones  replied : 

In  strict  point  of  the  law  of  nations,  you  must  consider 
me  not  in  any  way  a  servant  of  any  master  but  Congress 
itself,  so  far  as  this  purpose  is  concerned.  You,  as  a  sub- 
ject of  the  King  of  France,  have  no  legal  knowledge  that  I 
am  responsible  to  the  Commissioners,  because  you  can  have 
no  legal  knowledge  of  any  power  on  the  part  of  the  Com- 
missioners in  the  international  sense  ;  as  no  edict  recog- 
nizing their  diplomatic  authority  has  been  promulgated. 

128 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE   BRAKE 

You  know  them  only  ascertain  American  persons  residing 
in  a  quasi  official  capax?ity  near  the  Court  of  Versailles. 
You  have  no  warrant  to  know  them  in  any  capacity  that 
can  supersede  me  here,  because  I  now  show  you  my  origi- 
nal commission  from  the  Congress,  and  my  orders  to  com- 
mand the  Ranger,  all  on  the  first  parchment,  with  no 
reference  whatever  to  Commissioners,  fiscal  agents,  or  any- 
one else.  You  may  therefore,  for  present  purposes,  look 
upon  me  as  the  direct  naval  representative  of  Congress 
here.  If  you  doubt  my  point  of  law,  consult  the  chancel- 
lor of  His  Most  Gracious  Majesty's  Dockyard  here.  If  you 
find  that  my  legal  theory  is  right,  then  libel  my  merchant- 
prize  at  once  by  the  usual  process  of  your  local  marine 
court,  irrespective  of  any  other  consideration  than  the  debt 
due,  and  let  me  know  when  the  process  is  to  be  served  on 
board.  I  will  then  arrange  in  advance  to  have  my  prize- 
crew  abandon  the  libelled  ship,  leaving  her  in  possession  of 
the  bailiffs  in  admiralty.  Then  she  can  be  adjudicated, 
condemned  for  violation  of  the  port  laws  and  sold,  like 
any  other  merchant-ship,  in  default,  in  a  foreign  port. 

Bersolle,  after  consulting  the  chancellor  of  the 
dockyard,  libelled  the  prize  and  she  was  sold.  Most 
of  the  cargo  of  naval  stores  was  bid  in  by  the  gen- 
eral storekeeper  of  the  dockyard,  by  order  of  Count 
d'Orvilliers.  The  ship  herself  was  struck  off  to  a 
French  ship-broker  who,  as  was  afterward  ascer- 
tained, represented  Schweighauser ;  the  latter  stand- 
ing in  such  personal  fear  of  Jones  that  he  did  not 
dare  to  appear  in  the  transaction.  The  sale  of  the 
prize  and  cargo  realized  much  more  than  was  neces- 
sary to  satisfy  the  libellant,  Bersolle.  The  remain- 
der was  held  by  the  court  subject  to  the  order  of 
the  banker  who,  at  the  instance  of  d'Orvilliers,  had 
financed  the  transaction,  and  was  subsequently  ap- 
VoL.  I.— 9  123 


PAUL   JONES 

plied  to  the  payment  of  Jones's  drafts  on  account  of 

subsistence  and  pay  of  liis  crew  and  the  cost  of  repair 
and  refit  of  the  Ranger  and  the  Drake.  Schweig- 
hauser  was  not  recognized  as  "  American  agent " 
or  anything  else  at  any  stage  of  the  transaction ; 
neither  was  the  authority  of  the  commissioners  in- 
voked nor  their  advice  asked.  In  describing  the 
affair  Jones  curtly  says  :  "  I  could  not  waste  time 
discussing  questions  of  authority  when  my  crew  and 
prisoners  were  starving," 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  our  own  time,  this  was  a 
high-handed  proceeding.  But  the  exigency  seems 
to  have  justified  it.  The  commissioners  certainly 
submitted  to  it,  because  neither  they  then,  nor  our 
Government  ever  afterward,  made  the  slightest  at- 
tempt to  question,  much  less  to  subvert,  Jones's 
action. 

In  a  letter  to  Arthur  Lee  dated  November  1,  1778, 
Jones  says :  "  ...  I  shall  only  add  that  the 
dishonor  of  my  bill  of  exchange  .  .  .  occasioned 
the  infamous  necessity  for  attachment  of  the  Rang- 
er's prize  for  provisions  and  other  supplies  already 
furnished  by  M.  Bersolle." 

In  October,  1778,  Jones  addressed  a  memorial  to 
King  Louis  XVI.  in  the  form  of  a  summary  of  his 
operations  up  to  that  time.  In  this  paper  he  refers 
to  this  affair  as  follows,  after  describing  it  and  its 
causes  : 

Your  Majesty  will  perceive  that  this  transaction  was  ir- 
regular, at  least  evasive  of  the  strict  letter  of  law  and  of 
my  instructions.  But  your  Majesty's  perfect  knowledge 
of  affairs  will  enable  you  also  to  perceive  that  I  was  at  that 
moment  under  the  duress  of  conditions  tantamount  to  dis- 

130 


THE  CAPTURE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

tress  at  sea  ;  conditions  which  as  all  the  authorities  on 
maritime  jurisprudence  and  admiralty  law  agree,  may,  in 
the  discretion  of  a  commander,  be  held  to  annul  instruc- 
tions and  supersede  regulations.  I  would  also  beg  your 
Most  Christian  Majesty  to  deign  to  note  the  fact  that  the 
American  Commissioners  made  no  subsequent  effort  to 
subvert  my  arrangements,  which  was  acquiescence  amount- 
ing to  tacit  approval. 

Having-  by  this  rather  summary  expedient  pro- 
vided for  the  subsistence  and  part  pay  of  his  crew 
and  the  refit  of  his  ships,  Jones  next  had  to  deal  with 
his  insubordinate  first  lieutenant,  Simpson.  In  his 
dealings  with  this  officer,  Jones,  for  the  first,  last,  and 
only  time  in  his  fierce  career,  exhibited  vacillation  or, 
at  least,  incertitude.  The  scope  of  this  work  does 
not  admit  of  reproducing  in  full  the  text  of  the  corre- 
spondence concerning  the  affair.  In  summary,  let 
it  suffice  to  say  that  soon  after  the  Eanger  returned 
to  Brest,  Jones  put  Simpson  in  close  arrest.  A 
short  time  afterward  he  released  him  on  parole. 
Soon  after  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  commission- 
ers in  which  he  said  (June  16,  1778) : 

.  .  .  I  am  now  willing  to  release  Lieutenant  Simpson 
from  his  parole,  which  will  entitle  him  to  the  command  of 
the  Ranger.  I  bear  no  malice  ;  and  if  I  have  done  him 
injury,  this  will  be  making  all  the  satisfaction  at  present 
in  my  power.  If,  on  the  contrary,  ho  has  injured  me,  I 
will  trust  to  him  for  an  acknowledgment. 

Then,  as  the  French  Minister  of  Marine  had  prom- 
ised to  give  him  the  Indien  or  an  equivalent  ship, 
Jones  turned  the  command  of  the  Banger  over  to 
Simpson.    Very  soon    after    this    reports  reached 

131 


PAUL   JOXES 

Jones  that  Simpson  had  said  Jones  was  removed 
from  command  of  the  Ranger  in  disgrace,  etc 
Thereupon  Jones  revoked  his  prior  action  and  re- 
newed his  demand  for  a  court-martial  of  Simpson, 
which  was  ordered  by  the  commissioners  under  date 
of  August  22,  1778. 

In  connection  with  this  action  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Simpson  in  which,  after  stating  what  he  had  done 
and  his  reasons  for  it,  he  said : 

I  have  never  regretted  anything  more  than  this  necessity. 
I  well  know  that  you  have  been  misled,  and  that  you  are 
really  the  victim  of  Arthur  Lee's  harpies,  rather  than  my 
enemy  by  your  own  volition.  Had  I  believed  your  conduct 
to  be  inspired  by  malice  of  your  own,  I  would  not  trouble 
myself  with  pen  and  ink  concerning  you. 

Even  now,  though  my  charges  against  you  have  been 
entertained  and  court-martial  ordered,  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
tell  you  that  my  main  object  is  to  compel  the  bringing  out 
of  facts  in  the  trial  that  could  be  brought  out  in  no  other 
way  ;  namely,  the  facts  of  your  association  with  Thornton 
and  Ford,* and  their  snakish  influence  over  you  ;  and  also 

*  Among  the  facts  Jones  ascertained  when  investigating  the  charges 
against  Dr.  Bancroft  was  that  the  men  appointed  as  "American  agents  " 
at  the  French  titting-out  porta  were  all  creatures  of  Arthur  Lee,  under 
the  influence  of  the  British  spies  whom  Lee  had  for  "private  secre- 
taries ;  "  and  not  only  treacherous,  but  dishonest  as  well ;  because  they 
invariably  conspired  with  French  ship-brokers  to  bid  in  prizes  far  below 
their  real  value.     Jones,  in  his  review  of  the  subject,  says : 

"They  made  snap  sales  and  then  divided  with  the  ship-brokers  the 
margin  between  the  price  paid  for  the  prizes  and  their  real  value ! 
Arthur  Lee's  signature  to  this  letter  (of  May  2b)  was  natural,  because 
he  or  his  creatures  had  instigated  the  dishonoring  of  my  draft.  John 
Adams's  signature  could  be  explained  by  his  very  recent  arrival  in 
France  and  his  consequent  lack  of  information  as  to  the  kind  of  people 
to  be  dealt  with.  But  Dr.  Franklin's  signature  to  it  I  never  could 
account  for  unless  because  his  own  honesty  was  so  simple  and  pure  that 
he  could  not  comprehend  or  even  imagine  the  existence  of  such  villamy 

132 


THE  CAPTURE   OF   THE   DRAKE 

the  efforts  that  Arthur  Lee's  pet  Jew  at  Brest  [meaning 
Schweighauser]  made  to  use  you  in  underhand  ways  to  cir- 

as  that  of  Lee's  spies  and  bandits  in  guise  of  private  secretaries  and  sea- 
port agents.  I  confess  that  toward  the  last  of  my  inquiry,  when  the 
evidence  at  my  hand  left  no  room  for  doubt  of  their  guilt,  and  when  also 
I  had  to  admit  the  want  of  means  to  punish  them  legally,  I  could  never 
see  one  of  them  without  feeling  the  impulse  of  homicide  come  over  me. 
Fortunately,  I  held  my  hand.  But  to  this  day  I  cannot  understand, 
even  if  I  can  excuse  myself  for  it,  why  I  spared  the  reptile  life  of  Heze- 
kiah  Ford  in  the  courtyard  of  the  post-inn  at  Brest,  when  he  was  at 
my  mercy  and  I  had  every  justification  to  kill  him."  (Jones's  journal 
of  178i.) 

This  affair  grew  out  of  the  attempt  of  Ford  to  incite  mutiny  among 
the  Ranger's  crew  in  1778,  after  she  returned  to  Brest.  Ford  first  worked 
on  the  feeble  mind  of  Lieutenant  Simpson,  until  the  latter  ventured  upon 
insubordination  tliat  caused  Jones  to  place  him  under  arrest  in  close  con- 
finement and  to  demand  that  he  be  court-martialed.  Ford  then  drew  up 
a  petition  to  the  commissioners,  favoring  Simpson  and  condemning 
Jones;  and,  by  persuading  the  crew  that  it  was  the  only  means  by  which 
they  could  get  their  pay  and  return  to  America,  he  induced  seventy-eight 
of  them  to  sign  it — among  the  signers,  by  their  X-marka,  being  Jones's 
own  former  slave-boys,  Cato  and  Scipio. 

It  happened  that  Jones  learned  of  the  existence  of  this  document  just 
as  Ford  was  about  to  set  out  for  Paris.  He  went  at  once  to  the  post-inn, 
where  he  found  Ford  in  the  courtyai  d,  ready  to  step  into  the  diligence. 
Jones  in  this  rencontre  knocked  Ford  down  and  then,  seizing  the  post- 
driver's  whip,  gave  the  wretch  a  savage  horse-whippiug.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Jones  set  out  with  the  purpose  of  killing  Ford ;  because  he 
had  three  pistols  in  his  belt  at  the  tijne,  though  not  wearing  his  sword. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  affair  was  hushed  up.  Ford  seems  to  have  offered 
no  resistance.  He  was  a  man  nearly  six  feet  tall  and  weighed  nearly  two 
hundred  pounds.  Jones  was  five  feet  seven,  and  never  weighed  over  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  pounds.  About  six  months  after  this  affair  Ford 
•was  denounced  as  a  spy  and  a  traitor  by  resolution  of  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia  (January  6,  1779),  the  resolution  was  certified  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia  to  Congress,  and  Congress  by  resolution  ordered  the 
dismissal  of  Ford  from  the  service  of  the  commissioners.  But  in  spite 
or  in  contempt  of  even  such  proceedings,  Arthur  Lee  still  clung  to  Ford 
until  the  latter  himself  settled  the  affair  shortly  afterward  by  deserting 
to  the  British  and  going  to  London  loaded  with  secret  papers  and  private 
information  concerning  the  diplomatic  and  financial  operations  of  our 
commissioners. 

133 


PAUL   JONES 

cumvent  me  in  transactions  in  which  the  Jew  himself  was 
too  careful  of  his  precious  pelt  to  venture  showing  his  own 
hand. 

As  I  said  in  my  letter  of  June  16,  last,  to  Dr.  Franklin, 
I  bear  you  no  malice.  I  could  not  bear  malice  toward  a 
man  who,  under  my  own  eye,  has  exhibited  the  splendid 
courage  that  you  have  shown  in  moments  that  try  to  the 
last  test  the  stuff  men  are  made  of.  So  I  say,  and  when 
you  come  to  stand  your  trial,  you  may  use  this  letter 
as  you  please  ;  I  am  not  seeking  to  punish  or  disgrace 
you,  but  I  am  making  use  of  your  offending  to  reach 
others  far  above  you,  whom  I  could  get  my  hands  on  in  no 
other  way. 

This  may  seem  to  you  excessive  candor,  coming  from 
your  accuser  in  a  court-martial ;  and  so  it  is.  But  I  am 
thus  candid  with  you  because,  before  any  evidence  is 
taken,  I  wish  yoa  to  know  that  I  know  the  whole  case  in 
advance. 

The  trouble  with  you,  Mr.  Simpson,  is  that  you  have  the 
heart  of  a  lion  and  the  head  of  a  sheep.  In  battle,  there  is 
none  braver  than  you  ;  ashore,  in  the  hands  of  land-sharks, 
you  are  the  easiest  of  victims.  I  shall  not  injure  you  in 
the  coming  prosecution.  But  I  intend  to  hurt  those  whom 
you  have  foolishly  believed  to  be  your  better  friends  than 
I  am. 

To  tliis  unique  letter  SimiDson  promptly  replied  at 
some  length.  He  admitted,  in  the  main,  the  truth  of 
Jones's  view  as  to  the  causes  of  their  previous  mis- 
understanding- ;  he  confessed  that  he  had  been  de- 
ceived by  Ford  and  Thornton  ;  he  thanked  Jones 
for  the  cordial  recognition  of  his  (Simpson's)  be- 
havior in  action ;  he  reminded  Jones  of  the  orig- 
inal understanding  when  they  sailed  from  Ports- 
mouth, November  1,  1777,  that  the  Ranger  should 
be   turned  over  to   his   (Simpson's)    command    on 

134 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   THE    DRAKE 

arrival  in  France  ;  and  he  concluded  his  letter  as 
follows  : 

Now,  sir,  I  will  say  that  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  capable 
of  expressing  my  thoughts  as  you  can  express  yours.  I  con- 
fess once  for  all  that  I  am  not  your  equal  in  any  kind  of 
argument.  But  I  trust  you  will  always  think  of  me  as  an 
honest  man.  If  I  have  been  misguided  to  your  detriment, 
I  hope  you  will  attribute  it  to  lack  of  being  able  to  see 
through  the  designs  of  others  and  not  to  studied  bad  in- 
tention of  my  own.  With  these  admissions  and  agree- 
ments I  shall  now,  sir,  request  you  to  do  two  things  for  me. 

First,  that  you  shall  withdraw  the  charges  you  have 
lodged  against  me  and  ask  them  [evidently  meaning  the 
commissioners]  to  revoke  the  order  for  my  court-martial; 
and,  second,  that  you  shall  use  your  power  and  influence 
with  Dr.  Franklin  to  have  the  Ranger  ordered  to  America 
under  my  command  as  soon  as  possible. 

My  reason  for  asking  this  is  that,  as  is  well  known,  you  do 
not  yourself  purpose  to  return  in  the  Ranger  to  America, 
having  larger  prospects  of  your  own  on  this  side  of  the  water. 
Also,  as  you  know,  the  crew  of  the  Ranger  was  shipped  only 
for  one  year  to  date  from  October  1,  1777,  when  they  were 
mustered  on  deck,  and  that  year  is  nearly  up. 

Wliile  many  of  them  are  gone  off  in  French  privateers  by 
your  permission,  there  is  yet  about  sixty  of  the  originals  on 
board,  and  they  all  want  to  go  home  by  the  end  of  their 
term,  which  is  their  right,  and  it  would  not  be  right  to  try 
to  hold  them  longer. 

In  a  letter  to  Joseph  Hewes,  dated  the  day  be- 
fore the  Ranger  sailed  for  home,  and  transmitted 
by  the  hands  of  Simpson,  Jones  says  : 

.  .  .  Twenty-seven  of  the  Ranger's  old  crew,  thinking 
as  I  do  that  I  will  soon  get  another  and  more  important 
command,   have  volunteered  to  stay  with  me  ;   re-engag- 

135 


PAUL   JONES 

ing  for  another  year.  .  .  .  Among  those  so  volunteer- 
mg  is  my  little  Narragansett  Indian,  Antony  Jeremiah.  I 
have  seldom  seen  a  person  in  whom  I  take  such  keen  in- 
terest as  in  this  boy.  From  our  general  idea  of  the  nature 
of  his  race  it  seems  stra.nge  that  he  should,  so  gladly  as  he 
does,  take  up  with  the  restraints  of  man-of-war  discipline. 
But  he  does,  and,  though  not  more  than  twenty-one  or 
tv/enty-two  years  old,  I  haven't  a  better  seaman.  He  is 
small  in  stature,  but  active  and  strong,  and  in  the  three 
cruises  he  has  made  with  me — Providence,  Alfred,  and 
Ranger — his  name  has  yet  to  appear  on  the  sick-list. 

Now,  in  distinction  to  this,  my  two  negro  boys,  Cato  and 
Scipio,  have  chosen  to  go  back  home  in  the  Ranger.  I  made 
no  attempt  to  persuade  them.  But  the  difference  between 
the  choice  of  my  two  black  boys  and  of  my  one  little  red  boy 
most  forcibly  impresses  me  with  the  difference  there  is  in 
heart  and  stamina  between  the  red  American  and  the  black 
African.  Cato  and  Scipio  are  prime  seamen  and,  in  the 
battle  with  the  Drake,  they  behaved  as  well  as  white  men 
could.  But  they  are  evidently  satisfied  with  that ;  and  they 
are  also  homesick. 

Not  so  with  my  little  red  Indian.  He  is  not  homesick. 
Maybe  he  has  no  home  to  yearn  after.  But  I  prefer  to  ex- 
plain his  choice  to  stay  with  me  on  other  grounds.  Our 
battle  with  the  Drake  gave  him  a  taste  of  victory,  and  he 
wants  more  of  it.  He  tells  me  that  "he  likes  to  see  the 
big  gun  shoot ;"  that  **he  likes  to  hear  the  big  noise  of 
much  battle  ;  "  "  and  that  **  it  delights  him  to  walk  on  the 
deck  of  the  enemy's  big  boat  when  we  have  taken  it." 
And  he  tells  me  also  that  **he  thinks,  bimeby,  we  M'ill 
take  a  much  bigger  boat  than  the  Drake  and  kill  heap 
more  enemy  "  than  we  have  done.  There  is  surely  a  vast 
difference  between  the  red  man  and  the  black  man  where 
fighting  is  concerned. 

In  response  to  Simpson's  appeal,  Jones,  under  date 
of  September  G,  1778,  formally  withdrew  the  chargfes, 

130 


THE  CAPTURE   OF  THE   DEAKE 

requested  the  order  for  court-martial  to  be  revoked, 
and  recommended  that  the  Banger  be  ordered  home 
under  command  of  Lieutenant  Simpson  as  soon  as 
possible.  This  was  done.  The  subsequent  career 
of  Lieutenant — afterward  Captain — Simpson  in  com- 
mand of  the  Eanger  was  highly  creditable.  But  the 
Eanger  happened  to  be  in  Charleston  H^irbor  when 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  captured  that  place  early  in  1780  ; 
and  in  that  unfortunate  manner  the  gallant  little 
ship  and  her  brave  commander  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  British  without  the  least  chance  of  escape  or 
defence. 

Though  Jones  and  Simpson  had  settled  their  dif- 
ferences as  brave  men  always  adjust  such  affairs 
when  left  to  their  own  devices  of  candor  and  honesty, 
and  though  Simpson  had  gone  to  America  rejoicing 
in  the  command  to  which  he  had  so  long  and  so 
ardently  aspired,  the  British  spies  who  formed  the 
entourage  of  Arthur  Lee  diligently  kept  alive  the 
report  that  Jones  had  been  removed  from  the  Ranger 
and  could  not  obtain  another  command.  These 
stories  reached  Jones  from  time  to  time,  and,  with 
his  characteristic  tendency  to  fight  his  way  through 
everj^thing,  he  set  about  tracing  them  to  thoir 
source.  This  investigation  led  him,  while  at  Nantes, 
in  November,  1778,  into  collision  with  Stephen 
Sayre,  one  of  Lee's  numerous  "  secretaries."  Sayre 
was  an  Englishman,  and  had  been  a  deputy-sheriff 
in  England  under  the  patronage  of  John  Wilkes 
before  he  entered  the  "  official  family "  of  Arthur 
Lee. 

Jones  traced  these  stories,  or  some  of  them,  to 
Sayre,  and  at  once  called  him  to  personal  account. 

137 


PAUL   JONES 

Sayre  had  hitherto  posed  as  a  fighting  man,  and  was 
even  considered  somewhat  rash  in  personal  affairs. 
Meeting  Sayre  in  a  public  coffee-house  in  Nantes, 
Jones  denounced  him  as  a  liar  and  a  spy,  and 
slapped  his  face.  Sayre,  who  was  a  much  larger 
and  more  powerful  man  than  Jones,  attempted  to 
grapple  with  him,  but  Jones,  who,  fortunately, 
was  wholly  without  weapons,  WTested  a  heavy  cane 
from  the  hands  of  a  bystander,  and  fiercely  at- 
tacked Sayre  with  it,  when  there  was  energetic  in- 
terference by  a  squad  of  police.* 

Jones  yielded  to  the  authority  of  these,  but  was 
not  placed  under  arrest,  being  simply  required  to 
give  his  parole  to  refrain  from  further  violence. 
This  leniency  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  he 
wore  the  uniform  of  his  rank,  and  the  civil  police  of 
France  in  those  days  never  attempted  to  arrest, 
bodily,  military  or  naval  officers  in  uniform. 

*  Jones,  though  a  small  man — five  feet  seven  inches  in  stature  and  from 
one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred  and  forty-five  pounds  in  weight — 
possessed  extraordinary  physical  strength,  and  with  it  agility  or  rapid- 
ity of  movement  the  like  of  which  has  seldom  been  seen.  Nathaniel  Fan- 
ning, in  a  personal  description  of  him,  says :  "  Though  of  low  stature  and 
Blender  build,  the  Commodore's  neck,  arms,  and  shoulders  were  those  of  a 
heavy-set  man.  His  neck  was  out  of  proportion  to  the  rest  of  him.  The 
strength  of  bis  arms  and  shoulders  could  hardly  be  believed;  and  he  had 
equal  use  of  both  hands,  even  to  writing  with  the  left  as  well  as  with  the 
right  hand.  He  was  past  master  of  the  art  of  boxing,  and  though  there 
were  many  hard  nuts  to  crack  in  the  various  crews  he  commanded,  no 
one  ever  doubted  that  the  Commodore  was  the  best  man  aboard.  To  all 
this  he  added  a  quickness  of  motion  that  cannot  be  described  except  by 
saying  that  he  was  quicker  than  chain-lightniug.  When  roused  he  would 
strike  more  blows  and  do  more  damage  in  a  second  than  any  other  man 
I  ever  saw  could  do  in  a  minute.  Even  when  calm  and  unruffled,  his 
gait  and  all  his  bodily  motions  were  exactly  like  those  of  the  panther — 
noiseless,  sleek,  and  the  perfection  of  grace,  yet  always  giving  one  the 
idea  that  it  would  be  well  to  keep  out  of  reach  of  his  paws  and  teeth." 

las 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   THE    DRAKE 

Sayre  quickly  recovered,  and,  as  soon  aj  he  was 
able  to  travel,  left  Nantes  for  Paris,  going  thence 
to  Amsterdam,  and  thence  to  Copenhagen,  where  he 
remained  until  Jones  left  Paris  the  following  spring 
to  take  command  of  the  Bon  Homme  Pdchard. 
It  is  worth  remarking  that,  during  his  period  of 
refuge  in  Copenhagen,  Sayre  was  still  employed  by 
Lee  in  the  ostensible  service  of  trying  to  fit  out 
privateers  to  sail  from  that  port  under  American 
letters-of-marque,  and  he  continued  in  this  quasi 
employment  until  Lee  himself  repudiated  him  in 
the  spring  of  1779 — some  time  about  the  end  of 
March  or  early  in  April. 

However,  as  these  stories  interfered  with  Jones's 
efforts  to  obtain  ships,  he  determined  that  they 
must  be  officially  set  at  rest,  and,  in  response  to  his 
request  for  such  official  notice,  the  following  letter 
was  written  to  him,  with  authority  to  exhibit  it  to 
anyone  whom  it  might  concern : 

Passy,  February  10,  1779. 
Sir  :  As  your  separation  from  the  Ranger  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  Lieutenant  Simpson  to  the  command  of  her 
will  be  liable  to  misinterpretations  and  misrepresentations 
by  persons  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  real  cause  of 
those  facts,  we  hereby  certify  that  your  leaving  the  Ranger 
was  by  our  consent,  at  the  express  request  of  his  Excel- 
lency, Monsieur  de  Sartine  (the  Minister  of  Marine),  who 
informed  us  that  he  had  occasion  to  employ  you  in  some 
public  service  ;  that  Lieutenant  Simpson  was  appointed  to 
command  the  Ranger  with  your  consent,  after  having  con- 
sented to  release  him  from  an  arrest  under  which  you  had 
put  him.  That  your  leaving  the  Ranger  ought  not  and 
cannot  be  any  injury  to  your  rank  and  character  in  the 

139 


PAUL   JOXES 

service  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  your  commission  in 
their  Navy  continues  in  full  force. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc. , 

B.  Franklin, 
John  Adams. 

It  will  be  noted  that  Arthur  Lee,  who  was  still 
one  of  the  commissioners,  did  not  sig-n  the  forego- 
ing letter.  Jones,  in  his  journal  of  1782,  states  that 
"Lee  was  willing  to  sign  it,  but  I  did  not  wish  him 
to,  for  reasons  which  I  explained  to  Dr.  Franklin, 
and  which  the  Doctor  communicated  to  Mr.  Adams  ; 
the  said  reasons  being  obviously  quite  satisfactory 
to  both  those  most  eminent  gentlemen." 


140 


CHAPTEK  YII 
AN  APPEAL  TO   KING  LOUIS 

The  foregoing  chapters  cover  the  first  three  years 
of  Paul  Jones's  service  as  an  officer  in  the  Continen- 
tal Navy.  The  story  they  embody  might  be  consid- 
ered, as  it  stands,  an  enviable  record  for  the  aver- 
age, or  more  than  the  average,  naval  commander. 
But  brilliant  as  are  many  of  the  achievements  re- 
corded in  the  preceding  chapters,  they,  after  all, 
serve  but  little  purpose  bej^ond  that  of  a  some- 
what elaborate  introduction  to  the  history  of  Paul 
Jones.  They  form  little  more  than  the  chronolog- 
ical annals  of  his  career  up  to  the  end  of  his  third 
year  of  service,  with  no  attempt  at  embellishment, 
and  with  only  here  and  there  an  historical  foot-note 
calculated  to  shed  some  side-light  upon  his  won- 
derful personality. 

It  is,  we  believe,  customary  in  dealing  with  the 
history  of  an  individual  to  i^ause  at  some  point  for 
the  purpose  of  analyzing  his  character  and  dex)loy- 
ing  in  the  abstract  his  traits.  This  usual  and  often 
pleasant  ceremony  will  be  omitted  here,  because  no 
analysis,  howsoever  profound,  and  no  survey,  howso- 
ever searching  or  subtle,  could  lend,  in  the  waj^  of 
portrayal  of  personality  or  picture  of  character,  one 
syllable  of  fame  to  the  simplest  recital  of  the  deeds 

141 


PAUL   JONES 

and  the  most  faithful  copy  of  the  words  of  Paul 
Jones  himself. 

It  may,  however,  be  appropriate  to  offer  one  gen- 
eral observation  :  Jones  was  a  student,  a  linguist, 
and  an  all-round  man  of  affairs  in  statecraft  and  dip- 
lomacy, as  well  as  master  in  his  own  profession.  So- 
cially, he  was  among  the  most  debonnaire  of  gallants 
and  the  most  resistless  of  courtiers.  He  never  failed 
to  win  the  esteem,  the  confidence,  or  the  affection  of 
the  fair  sex  at  will.  Even  so  perfectly  balanced  and 
so  unemotional  a  man  as  Dr.  Franklin  himself  once 
said  of  him  in  a  letter  of  introduction  to  an  eminent 
woman :  "  No  matter  what  the  faults  of  Commo- 
dore Jones  may  be,  ...  I  must  confess  to  your 
ladyship  that  when  face  to  face  with  him  neither 
man  nor,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  woman  can  for  a  mo- 
ment resist  the  strange  magnetism  of  his  presence, 
the  indescribable  charm  of  his  manner  ;  a  commin- 
gling of  the  most  compliant  deference  with  the  most 
perfect  self-esteem  that  I  have  ever  seen  in  a  man  ; 
and,  above  all,  the  sweetness  of  his  voice  and  the 
purity  of  his  language.  I  offer  these  thoughts  to 
the  gracious  consideration  of  your  lad3'ship,  no 
less  as  a  warning  than  as  a  favorable  introduc- 
tion." * 

Notwithstanding  these  traits,  and  despite  the  re- 
markable degree  of  their  development  in  him,  Paul 
Jones  has  passed  into  history  almost  solely  in 
the  character  of  a  desperate  and  even  phenomenal 
fighter ;  and  it  is  too  late  now  to  attempt  to  modify 
or  soften  that  impression.     It  is  with  regard  to  this 

*  Franklin's  letter  introducing   Jones   to  the  Countess    d'Houdetot, 
June,  1780. 

U2 


AN   APPEAL   TO   KING   LOUIS 

trait  that  we  propose  to  offer  our  general  observa- 
tion.  Most  men  approach  or  engage  in  combat  with 
more  or  less  evidence  of  feeling ;  more  or  less  sign 
of  excitement  or  enthusiasm.  But  it  has  been  placed 
on  record  by  four  men,  all  of  whom  fought  under 
his  command — Richard  Dale,  Elijah  Hall,  Henry- 
Gardner,  and  Nathaniel  Fanning — that  at  no  time  was 
the  manner  of  Paul  Jones  so  easy,  his  bearing  so 
genial,  and  his  temper  so  placid,  as  in  the  most  des- 
perate moments  of  his  bloodiest  battles.  And  this 
trait  was  equally  exhibited  in  his  personal  rencon- 
tres. 

"  He  always  fought,"  says  Fanning,  "as  if  that 
was  what  he  was  made  for,  and  it  was  only  when 
most  perfectly  at  peace  that  he  seemed  ill  at  ease, 
or,  at  least,  restless. 

"He  was  never  petulant  toward  those  subordinate 
to  him.  Even  in  cases  of  failure  to  carry  out  his 
orders  or  meet  his  expectations,  he  would  be  lenient, 
patient,  and  forbearing  so  long  as  he  did  not  detect 
or  think  he  detected  wilfulness  or  malice.  But  if  he 
obtained  such  an  impression,  there  could  be  no  peace 
with  him.  He  was  not  a  quarrelsome  man,  in  the 
sense  of  proneness  to  pick  quarrels  ;  but  he  was  the 
easiest  person  I  have  ever  seen  for  any  fighting  man 
to  pick  a  quarrel  with. 

"  In  ordinary  intercourse,  either  official  or  personal, 
it  was  a  constant  delight  to  be  with  him,  at  least 
for  those  who  by  their  conduct  had  gained  his  es- 
teem ;  and  in  his  air  and  manner  toward  such  there 
was  a  charm  the  like  of  which  I  have  never  seen  or 
heard  of  in  any  other  man." 

Of  this   "  personal   magnetism "  so  quaintly  de- 

143 


PAUL   JONES 

scribed  by  Fanning,  an  event  chronologically  be- 
longing to  the  period  now  under  consideration  may 
be  taken  as  the  most  remarkable  evidence.  Refer- 
ence has  previously  been  made  to  the  existence  of 
bad  feeling  between  John  Adams  and  Paul  Jones 
during  the  earlier  years  of  the  Revolution.  The 
first  cause  of  it,  as  has  been  related,  was  the  merest 
trifle,  and  it  was  Jones's  fault,  too  ;  because  he  had 
no  right  to  ridicule,  as  he  did  in  1775,  so  great  a  man 
and  so  pure  a  patriot  as  John  Adams  was.  The  fact 
that  he  and  Jones  came  very  near  representing  the 
two  extremes  of  human  nature  in  tastes  and  tempera- 
ment  gave  Jones  no  license  to  crack  jokes  at  his  ex- 
pense for  the  amusement  of  girls  with  giddy  brains 
and  busy  tongues,  like  Betty  Faulkner  and  Joseph- 
ine Mayrant.  Jones  should  have  borne  in  mind 
that  Mr.  Adams  was  much  his  senior  in  years,  vastly 
his  superior  in  official  position,  and,  without  doubt, 
of  infinitely  greater  importance  then,  if  not  after- 
ward, to  the  cause  of  American  Independence  than 
he. 

However,  in  1778  Mr.  Adams  came  to  France,  as 
American  Commissioner,  in  place  of  Silas  Deane. 
Dr.  Franklin,  who  knew  all  about  the  feeling  that 
had  hitherto  prevailed  between  Mr.  Adams  and 
Jones,  enjoined  upon  the  latter  that  he  must  take 
the  first  opportunity  to  conciliate  Mr.  Adams  and 
that  he  must  not  hesitate  at  any  reasonable  self- 
abnegation  necessary  to  accomplish  it. 

Jones,  with  all  his  ferocity,  used  to  obey  Dr. 
Franklin  in  all  things,  small  as  well  as  great ;  much 
as  a  trained  tiger  obeys  his  keej)er,  and  this  incident 
was  no  exception.     Mr.  Adams  had  not  met  Jones 

144 


AN   APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

socially  since  tlie  summer  of  1775,  and  then  only 
in  the  most  casual  way.  Some  time  after  Jones  re- 
turned to  Brest  from  the  cruise  in  which  he  took  the 
Drake,  Dr.  Franklin  ordered  him  to  come  to  Passy 
for  consultation.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the 
Doctor  commanded  Jones  to  make  his  peace  with 
Mr.  Adams.  Dr.  Franklin  gave  one  of  his  frugal 
dinners,  at  which,  besides  Mr.  Adams  and  Paul  Jones, 
several  notable  Frenchmen  were  present.  It  is  of 
record  that  Jones  kept  this  dinner-party  up  till  near 
daylight  the  next  morning  with  an  apparently  ex- 
haustless  fund  of  experience,  observation,  wit,  and 
humor,  and  that  Mr.  Adams  was  perfectly  charmed 
with  him.  In  fact,  Mr.  Adams  soon  after  facetiously 
cautioned  Dr.  Franklin  to  avoid  subjecting  him 
often  to  the  loss  of  his  night's  rest,  that  seemed  in- 
separable from  a  dinner  with  Paul  Jones  at  table. 
However,  from  that  time  on  the  official  relations  be- 
tween Mr.  Adams  and  Jones  were  always  marked  by 
the  utmost  cordiality  and  confidence,  and  their  per- 
sonal friendship  was  as  genial  as  any  friendship 
with  John  Adams  could  be. 

Mr.  Adams  deprecated—as  did  Dr.  Franklin,  too, 
for  that  matter— Jones's  tendency  to  physical  vio- 
lence in  dealing  with  his  personal  enemies;  and 
they  also  reprehended  his  frequent  efforts  to  provoke 
duels  as  the  readiest  means  of  settling  not  only  per- 
sonal but  also  official  controversies.  However,  they 
both  realized  that  they  had  in  Jones  the  kind  of  a 
sea-fighter  they  needed,  and  they  were  not  unchari- 
table with  his  tendency  to  be  other  kinds  of  a  fighter 
which,  though  less  desirable  to  the  public  service, 
perhaps,  was  inseparable  from  the  general  character 
Vol.  I.— 10  U'> 


PAUL   JONES 

that  made  liim  so  useful  to  the  cause  of  the  strug- 
gling Colonies. 

Dr.  Franklin  used  to  lecture  him  on  this  subject, 
both  orally  and  by  letter,  and  Jones,  while  he  took  a 
rather  sardonic  view  of  the  Doctor's  theories  that  a 
man  should  always  draw  a  wide  distinction  between 
the  enemies  of  his  country  and  his  own  personal  ad- 
versaries, was  more  than  once  compelled  by  the 
Doctor's  arguments  to  admit  that  aj^peal  to  physical 
violence  in  settlement  of  individual  quarrels  was 
quite  as  likely  to  result  disadvantageously  to  the 
victor  as  to  the  vanquished. 

The  situation  of  Paul  Jones  in  France  after  the 
Hanger  had  sailed,  leaving  him  without  a  command 
and  wholly  dependent  on  the  grace  of  the  King  for 
further  opportunity,  is  grax^hically  described  in  a 
letter  to  Joseph  Hewes,  October  1,  1778.     He  says  : 

Though  my  efforts  to  obtain  a  small  squadron  have  not 
met  with  the  success  I  had  hoped  for,  I  still  hope  and  will, 
as  always,  persevere.  Many  obstacles  beset  me.  The  Com- 
missioners have  no  resources.  The  war  between  France  and 
England  now  behig  in  full  flame,  all  the  resources  of  the 
French  Ministry  of  Marine  seem  absorbed  in  fitting  out 
commands  for  their  own  regular  officers.  The  Duke  and 
Duchess  de  Chartres  were  sure  I  was  to  have  two  frigates 
lately  ready  for  sea  at  Brest,  one  of  thirty-six  guns  to  be 
my  own  command,  and  the  other  to  be  commanded  by  a 
French  officer,  Captain  de  Roberdeau,  selected  by  the 
Duke,  I  to  be  the  senior  officer.  To  these  frigates  were  to 
be  added  two  sloops  of  twenty  guns.  But  at  the  last  moment 
the  two  frigates  were  needed  to  join  the  grand  fleet  of  the 
Count  d'Estaing,  and  their  commands  were  given  to  regu- 
lar French  officers. 

The  fact  is  the  French  have  little  conception  of  expedi- 

146 


AN   APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

tions  such  as  I  propose  ;  projects  to  harry  the  coasts  and 
destroy  the  comiiierce  of  the  enemy.  Their  idea  is  to  leave 
all  that  to  privateers,  of  which  I  have  already  been  offered 
a  dozen  commands.  Some  of  the  ships  they  fit  out  as  pri- 
vateers are  really  respectable  frigates  in  size,  and  I  have 
seen  one,  called  the  Monsieur,  that  mounts  thirty-eight  or 
forty  guns.  But  I  do  not  wish  to  engage  in  privateering. 
My  object  is  not  that  of  private  gain,  but  to  serve  the  pub- 
lic in  a  way  that  may  reflect  credit  on  our  infant  navy  and 
give  prestige  to  our  country  on  the  sea. 

This  cannot  be  done  by  privateers  ;  neither  can  much 
that  is  of  moment  be  accomplished  with  small  ships  like 
the  Ranger.  The  taking  of  the  Drake  was  universally  re- 
garded here  as  an  unequalled  exploit  and  it  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  French  to  a  fact  they  had  considered  out  of  the 
question,  namely,  that  an  English  man-of-war  could  be 
forced  to  strike  to  a  ship  of  inferior  force.  But,  after  all, 
its  effects  were  not  lasting,  because  the  force  of  the  ships 
was  so  small  that  their  battle  could  not  be  very  impressive 
no  matter  how  bravely  fought  or  how  well  won.  Such  a 
battle  as  would  make  a  lasting  impression  cannot  be  fought 
with  a  ship  of  less  than  frigate  rate. 

Another  obstacle  I  meet  every  day  is  the  jealousy  of  the 
French  officers.  By  this  I  mean  not  the  higher  ranks,  as 
d'Orvilliers  and  d'Estaing  and  de  Grasse,  whose  fortunes 
are  already  made,  but  the  younger  officers  in  mj"^  own 
grade.  You  must  know  that  the  French  Navy  is  not 
merely  aristocratic  like  the  English,  but  it  is  wholly  a 
navy  of  the  noblesse.  You  may  think  it  incredible,  but  it 
is  a  fact  that  a  Eoyal  ordinance  is  in  force,  not  long  ago 
promulgated,  requiring  that  candidates  for  promotion  from 
lieutenant  to  captain  must  first  of  all  produce  proof  of 
noble  lineage  for  at  least  four  generations  back  of  their 
own,  or  must  be  members  by  heritage,  of  the  Order  of  the 
Chevaliers  of  St.  Louis  ! 

This,  as  you  must  see,  puts  an  end  to  the  possibility  of 
a  future  Jean  Bart.     ...     In  fact  it  must,  so  long  as  it 

147 


PAUL   JONES 

stands,  shut  out  talent  and  merit  from  all  command  rank 
in  the  French  Navy,  and,  in  the  main,  leave  open  the  door 
of  preferment  to  those  only  who  can  boast  the  favor  of 
titled  courtiers,  or  who,  in  default  of  aptitude  for  the  naval 
service  can  offer  nothing  but  pedigrees  that  in  most  cases 
argue  decay  rather  than  improvement  of  blood  by  age  of 
family. 

From  these  facts  you  may  be  able  to  gather  some  idea  of 
the  hindrances  that  beset  me.  Now,  when  to  all  this  you 
add  dissensions  among  our  own  Commissioners,  the  noted 
presence  of  English  spies  and  emissaries  in  pay  of  Lord 
North,  holding  positions  under  the  Commissioners — or  one 
of  them — where  they  have  full  knowledge  of  the  most  con- 
fidential proceedings,  and  free  access  to  the  most  secret 
papers  ;  and  you  must  see  that  the  path  of  anyone  striving 
to  honestly  serve  our  cause  here  is  thick  with  thorns. 

Yet  with  all  these  sinister  facts  to  contend  with,  do  not 
for  a  moment  imagine  that  I  despair.  I  am  sure  I  will 
succeed  in  the  end,  though  not  quite  as  quickly  as  I  would 
like,  or,  perhaps,  not  on  such  a  large  scale.  But  I  will 
succeed. 

It  does  not  seem  practicable,  even  with  all  the  re- 
sources of  intervening  history  at  command,  to  add 
anything-  to  the  foregoing-  review  of  the  situation 
as  Paul  Jones  saw  and  felt  it  at  the  time  and  on  the 
spot.  About  the  only  comment  that  suggests  itself 
is  that  if  anything  is  more  clearly  exhibited  in 
Jones's  review  than  his  own  marvellous  perception, 
it  is  his  grim  resolution  to  persevere  in  spite  of  all. 

He  had  relinquished  command  of  the  Banger 
July  16th.  For  two  months  before  that — in  fact  ever 
since  the  return  of  the  lianger  to  Brest  in  May — 
he  had  made  every  possible  effort  to  obtain  a  larger 
ship.     His  correspondence  with  the  French  Minis- 

148 


AN   APPEAL    TO    KING   LOUTS 

ter  of  Marine,  with  the  Duke  de  Chartres,  with  Dr. 
Franklin,  and  with  several  French  capitalists  who 
made  various  propositions  to  fit  him  out  for  priva- 
teering" expeditions,  would  fill  a  small  volume.  By 
the  middle  of  October  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  could  expect  nothing-  but  promises  from  de 
Sartine,  the  Minister  of  Marine,  who,  as  Jones  said 
in  a  letter  to  Robert  Morris,  dated  November  13, 
1778,  "  cannot  and  dare  not  do  what  I  think  he 
really  wishes,  because  of  the  high  and  dangerous 
cabals  of  the  French  officers,  who  urge  that  the  rules 
of  the  service  will  not  admit  of  giving-  me  command 
of  ships  detached  from  the  Royal  Marine,"  etc. 

He  saw  that  Dr.  Franklin  had  exhausted  all  his 
power  in  vain,  and  was  disheartened.  Of  the  other 
commissioners,  Mr.  Adams  thus  far  took  little  or 
no  interest  in  the  matter,  while  Arthur  Lee  was 
openly  hostile  to  any  project  Jones  might  attempt, 
and  exerted  all  his  influence  to  thwart  him.  Dr. 
Franklin's  discouragement  had  become  so  acute 
that  he  privately  suggested  to  Jones  the  idea  of 
giving  up  the  hope  of  a  new  command  in  France 
and  of  returning  to  the  United  States  to  see  what 
Congress  could  do  for  him. 

Then,  as  a  last  resort,  Jones  determined  to  appeal 
to  the  King  in  person. 

At  this  stage  of  his  career  it  is,  we  think,  fair  to 
consider  Jones  as  standing  alone  in  France,  so  far  as 
American  help  or  the  possibility  of  it  was  concerned. 
He  was,  as  has  been  said,  without  a  command. 
His  enemies  had  industriously  circulated  reports 
that  this  condition  was  his  own  fault.  He  had,  in- 
deed, availed  himself  of  every  opportunity  to  deny 

110 


PAUL   JONES 

such  reports  by  the  ultima  ratio  regum  ;  that  is 
to  say,  by  physical  violence,  summarily  visited  ux^on 
the  authors  of  such  reports  wherever  he  could  find 
them. 

Whatever  others  may  have  done  or  may  have 
tried  to  do  for  him,  Paul  Jones  unquestionably  owed 
the  opportunity  of  his  crowning  success,  and  of  ihe 
victory  that  made  his  name  immortal,  to  the  gentle 
and  beautiful  woman  whom  history  knows  as  the 
wife  of  Philippe  Egalite  and  the  mother  of  Louis 
Philixjpe.  But  before  describing  her  help  to  hiiii 
in  his  supreme  emergency  it  is  interesting  to  note 
the  estimate  he  himself  made  of  his  own  situation 
in  a  letter  to  Eobert  Morris,  from  which  a  brief 
quotation,  referring  to  the  jealousy  of  the  younger 
French  officers,  has  been  given  on  a  previous  page. 

In  that  letter  he  says,  speaking  of  de  Sartine, 
Minister  of  Marine  :  "  He  has,  however,  authorized 
M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont  to  purchase  a  ship  to  my 
liking,  if  to  be  found  in  any  jDrivate  dock  or  yard  in 
Prance." 

The  date  of  the  foregoing  was  ''  Brest,  November 
13,  1778."  But  six  days  earlier,  November  7th,  he 
had  written  to  Mr.  Hewes,  from  Nantes,  whither  he 
had  gone  to  survey  a  ship,  as  follows  : 

.  .  .  It  is  now  clear  to  me  that  they  do  not  intend 
to  give  me  a  regular  command.  The  Minister  (de  Sartine) 
shuffles  all  the  time  with  one  excuse  or  another.  This 
makes  me  believe  that  it  is  the  fixed  intention  of  the  cabal 
behind  the  Minister  to  force  me  into  privateering.  There 
is  a  strong  moneyed  and  political  association,  well  backed 
at  court  and  including,  I  believe,  not  a  few  courtiers,  anx- 
ious to  fit  m3  out  with  a  squadron  of  lorivateers  or  letters- 

150 


AN   APPEAL    TO   KIXQ   LOUIS 

of-marque.     M.  de  Chaumont  is  at  the  head  of  this  associ- 
ation.    They  will  give  me  at  least  two  ships  of  forty  guns 
each  and  two  or  three  more  vessels  of  from  eighteen  to 
twenty-four  guns,  with  French  crews,  besides  such  Ameri- 
cans as  I  can  muster  in  Brest,  Nantes,  I'Orient,  and  Dun- 
kirk, and  with  such  a  force  I  am  to  put  to  sea  in  quest  of 
plunder  and  to  enrich  a  few  French  bankers  and  merchants. 
You  need  not  be  told,  Mr.  Hewes,  that  this  prospect  does 
not  suit  me.     I  am  not  in  pursuit  of  private  gain  for  myself 
or  for  others.     I  hold  commission  as  captain  in  the  regu- 
lar navy  of  the  United  States,  which,  in  my  estimation,  is 
not  to  be  outranked  by  the  same  grade  of  commission  of 
even  date  in  any  other  navy  in  the  world.     My  sole  ambi- 
tion is  to  have  opportunity  of  fighting  a  battle  in  virtue 
of  that  commission  and  under  our  own  new  flag  among 
nations,  which  that  commission  entitles  me  to  fly ;  to  fight 
under  such  auspices  a  battle  that  will  teach  to  the  world, 
and  particularly  to  Englishmen  and  Frenchmen,  that  the 
American  flag  means  something  afloat  and  must  be  re- 
spected at  sea. 

To  a  man  of  your  own  perfect  perceptions  and  your  own 
infallible  sense  of  what  is  proper,  Mr.  Hewes,  it  is  not  need- 
ful to  say  that  no  such  thing  as  I  have  expressed  can  possi- 
bly be  done  in  a  private  armed  sliip  or  under  a  letter-of- 
marque,  flying  no  matter  what  flag.  To  have  any  efi"ect  in 
the  way  of  prestige  to  our  infant  nation,  such  a  battle  must 
be  fought  under  the  commission  that  I  have  been  honored 
with  by  the  Congress  and  under  the  flag  of  our  own 
country. 

However,  it  wastes  time,  paper,  and  ink  to  argue  this 
with  you  and,  also,  as  the  last  reports  I  have  from  you  in- 
dicate that  you  are  yet  in  feeble  health  and  out  of  public 
life,  I  shrink  from  the  thought  of  tiring  you  either  with 
the  length  of  my  letter  or  the  troubles  of  ray  situation. 
...  Of  one  thing,  in  spite  of  all,  you  may  definitely 
assure  yourself,  and  that  is,  I  will  not  accept  any  command 
or  enter  upon  any  arrangement  that  can  in  the  least  bring 

151 


PAUL   JONES 

in  question  or  put  out  of  sight  the  regular  rank  I  hold  in 
the  United  States  Navy  ;  for  which  I  now,  as  always,  ac- 
knowledge my  debt  to  you  more  than  to  any  other  person. 

Nearly  three  weeks  before  the  date  of  the  fore- 
g-oing"  letter,  and  before  leaving  Brest  for  Nantes, 
Jones  had  written  three  letters,  all  dated  October 
19,  1778.  One  of  them  was  addressed  to  the  King-  of 
France,  one  to  the  Duchess  de  Chartres,  and  one  to 
Dr.  Franklin.  This  was  the  outcome  of  a  letter  to 
the  Duke  de  Chartres  dated  September  21, 1778,  and 
the  Duke's  reply,  dated  September  29th. 

This  correspondence  as  a  whole  marks  the  turn- 
ing point  of  Jones's  career  in  France,  and  it  also  ex- 
hibits, by  its  own  text,  more  forcibly  than  any  de- 
scription in  the  third  person  possibly  could,  his 
wonderful  versatility  and  his  astonishing  capacity 
to  take  care  of  himself  when  tired  of  waiting  upon 
the  futile  efforts  of  others.  For  that  reason  the  text 
of  the  letters  under  consideration  is  reproduced 
here  in  full. 

His  letter  to  the  Duke  de  Chartres  dated  Sep- 
tember 21,  1778,  was  a  clear  and  comprehensive  re- 
view of  the  prospects  that  had  been  held  out  to  him 
by  the  Minister  of  Marine  since  his  return  to  Brest 
from  the  cruise  in  the  Ranger,  and  of  the  repeated 
disappointments  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  by 
the  Minister's  failures  to  make  good  his  promises. 
He  assured  the  Duke  that,  though  disappointed,  he 
was  by  no  means  disheartened ;  but,  being  now  at 
the  end  of  all  ordinary  or  usual  expedients,  he  asked 
the  Duke's  frank  and  candid  advice  as  to  whether, 
in  his  judgment,  he  (Jones)  had  better  persevere  in 


AN   APPEAL   TO   KING    LOUIS 

France  or  make  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  the 
United  States  and  take  there  any  command  Congress 
could  o-ive  him.  He  intimated  that  he  was  in  a 
mood  to  rest  the  decision  on  the  Duke's  advice,  and 
concluded  with  ardent  expressions  of  gratitude  for 
the  kindness  he  had  already  experienced  at  the 
hands  of  His  Eoyal  Highness. 

To  this  the  Duke  replied,  under  date  of  September 
29th,  as,  follows  : 

...  It  seems  to  me  that  nothing  is  left  for  you  to  do 
but  appeal  to  the  King  in  person.  This  will  of  course  be 
unusual  and  contrary  to  strict  etiquette  of  court.  But 
His  Majesty  is  a  man  of  generous  sentiments,  and  I  am  per- 
suaded that  if  the  real  facts  of  your  situation  could  be  laid 
before  him,  he  would  act  in  your  favor.  My  advice,  there- 
fore, is  that  you  write  to  him  frankly,  in  your  own  fashion. 
My  good  consort,  the  Duchess,  will  undertake  to  hand 
your  letter  to  His  Majesty.  Her  Royal  Highness  will  also 
interest  her  sister-in-law,  the  Princess  Lamballe,  in  the 
affair,  and  by  that  means  you  may  even  have  the  acquies- 
cence, if  not  the  support,  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen. 

Pursuant  to  this  advice  Jones  wrote  directly  to  the 
King.  We  give  his  letter  in  full  and  in  its  original 
French  text,  with  his  own  English  translation  of  it. 
There  was  no  real  necessity  of  writing  it  in  the 
French  language,  because  Louis  XVI.  understood 
English  perfectly.  But  Jones  knew  that  if  the  King 
should  give  him  command  of  a  squadron  to  be  fitted 
out  in  France,  he  would  have  to  enlist  a  good  many 
French  sailors  in  addition  to  such  Americans  as  he 
could  pick  up  in  French  ports,  and  he  therefore  con- 
sidered it  advisable  to  give  His  Majesty  an  object- 
lesson  of  the  fact  that  he  would  be  able  to  command 

1.V3 


PAUL   JONES 

Frenclimen  in  their  own  tongue.  It  may  not  have 
been  such  a  letter  as  a  Frenchman  or  any  other  man 
bred  to  Court  etiquette  or  traditions  would  address 
to  a  monarch.  Fortunately,  Louis  XVI.  was  not  like 
other  king's,  and,  therefore,  the  simple,  honest  style 
of  Paul  Jones,  instead  of  oJffending-  him  or  ruffling 
his  royal  dignity,  pleased,  interested,  and,  as  the 
sequel  proved,  captivated  the  good  King,  and,  in 
the  end,  made  the  fortune  of  the  bold,  blunt  sailor 
for  all  time.     This  unique  letter  was  as  follows:  * 

Brest,  le  19  Octobre,  1778. 
tSa  Majeste  Tres  Chretienne,  Louis 
Roi  de  France  et  Navarre. 

Sire:  Apres  mon  retour  ^  Brest,  de  la  Mer  d'lrlande, 
dans  le  vaisseau  de  guerre  ani6ricain,  le  Ranger,  Son  Excel- 
lence, le  Dr.  Franklin,  m'a  inform^  par  lettre,  datee  du 
premier  Juin,  que  M.  de  Sartine,  ayant  bonne  opinion  de 
ma  conduite  et  bravoure,  avait  decide,  avec  le  eonsente- 
ment  et  I'approbation  de  Votre  Majeste,  de  me  donner  le 
commandement  du  vaisseau  de  guerre,  I'lndien,  lequel  fut 
construit  a  Amsterdam  pour  l'Am6rique,  mais  apres,  pour 
des  raisons  de  politique,  devint  la  propriete  de  la  France. 

Je  devais  agir  avec  ordres  illimites  sous  le  brevet  et  dra- 
peau  americain.  Et  le  Prince  de  Nassau  proposait  m'ac- 
compagner  sur  1' Ocean. 

*  The  English  text  of  Jones's  remarkable  letter  to  the  King,  as  he  for- 
warded it  to  Dr.  Franklin,  was  as  follows  : 

Brest,  October  19,  1778. 
His  Most  Christian  Majesty^ 

Louis,  Kiyig  of  Fraitce  and  Navarre. 
SiUE  :  After  my  return  to  Brest  in  the  American  ship-of-war  the 
Ranger,  from  the  Irish  Channel,  His  Excellency  Dr.  Franklin  in- 
formed me  by  letter  dated  June  1,  that  M.  de  Sartine,  having  a  good 
opinion  of  my  conduct  and  bravery,  had  determined  with  Your  Majesty's 
consent  and  approbation  to  give  me  the  command  of  the  ship-of-war  the 

154 


AN    APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

J'^tais  profondement  penStre  par  un  sentiment  de  I'hon- 
neur  qui  in'^tait  fait  par  cette  proposition,  aussi  bien  que 
de  la  favour  que  Votre  Majesty  avait  I'intention  ainsi  d'ac- 
cordcr  a  I'Amerique,  et  j'acceptai  I'offre  avec  plus  de  plaisir 
parceque  le  Congres  m' avait  envoye  en  Europe  dans  le 
*  Ranger  '  dans  le  but  de  prendre  commandement  de  1' In- 
dian, avant  que  ce  vaisseau  evlt  changS  de  mains. 

Le  ministre  d^sira  me  voir  a  Versailles  afin  de  determiner 
les  plans  d  operation  pour  le  futur,  et  je  le  visitai  dans  ce 
but.  On  me  dit  que  I'Indien  6tait  au  Texel,  compl(itement 
arm6  et  prSt  a  faire  voile  ;  mais  le  Prince  de  Nassau  fut  en- 
voy6  a  grande  vitesse  en  Hollande,  et  retourna  avec  un 
rapport  bien  different — le  vaisseau  6tait  a  Amsterdam,  et 
ne  pouvait  pas  etre  mis  a  fiot  ou  arme  avant  I'equinoxe  du 
inois  de  Septembre.  Les  envois  americains  proposaient 
mon  retour  en  Am^rique  ;  et  ayant  6te  a  plusieurs  reprises 
nommS  au  commandement-en-chef  d'une  escadre  ameri- 
caine  pour  accomplir  des  pro  jets  secrets,  sans  doute  le  Con- 
gr^s  m'aurait  montr6  une  nouvelle  preference.  Mais  M.  de 
Sartine  jugea  a  propos  d'empScher  mon  depart,  en  6crivant 
aux  envois  (sans  que  je  le  savais),  demandant  qu'il  me  fut 

Indlen,  which  was  built  at  Amsterdam  for  America,  but  afterward,  for 
political  reasons,  made  the  property  of  France.  I  was  to  act  with  un- 
limited orders  under  the  commission  and  flag  of  America.  And  the 
Prince  de  Nassau  proposed  to  accompany  me  on  the  ocean, 

I  was  deeply  penetrated  with  a  sense  of  the  honor  done  me  by  this 
proposition,  as  well  as  of  the  favor  which  Your  Majesty  intended  thereby 
to  confer  upon  America,  and  I  accepted  the  ofFer  with  the  greater  pleas- 
ure as  the  Congress  had  sent  me  to  Europe  in  the  Ranger  to  command 
the  Indien  before  the  ownership  of  that  vessel  was  changed. 

The  Minister  desired  to  see  me  at  Versailles,  to  settle  future  plans 
of  operations  and  I  attended  him  for  that  purpose.  I  was  told  that  the 
Indien  was  at  the  Texel  completely  armed  and  fitted  for  sea ;  but  the 
Prince  de  Nassau  was  sent  express  to  Holland  and  returned  with  a  very- 
different  account — the  ship  was  at  Amsterdam  and  could  not  be  got 
afloat  or  armed  before  the  September  equinox. 

The  American  plenipotentiaries  proposed  that  I  should  return  to 
America,  and  as  I  had  been  appointed  repeatedly  to  the  chief  command 
of  Jin  American  squadron  to  execute  secret  enterprises,  it  was  not  doubted 

155 


PAUL   JONES 

permis  de  rester  en  Europe,  et  que  le  Ranger  soit  renvoy^ 
en  Amerique  sous  un  autre  eomniandeur,  lui  ayant  des  ser- 
vices speciaux  qu'il  d6sirait  que  j'aceomplisse.  Cette  priiire 
ils  accorderent  volontiers,  et  j'etais  flatt6  par  I'espoir  que 
je  serais  mis  en  position  de  temoigner  par  mes  services 
de  ma  reconnaissance  en  vers  votre  Majeste,  le  premier 
prince  qui  ait  si  g6n6reusement  reconnu  notre  indepen- 
dance. 

II  se  passa  un  intervalle  de  plus  de  trois  mois,  avant 
que  rindien  pouvait  etre  mis  a  flot.  Afm  d'employer  ce 
temps  utilement,  quand  il  fut  command e  a  la  flotte  de 
Votre  Majesty  de  faire  voile  de  Brest,  je  proposal  au  minis- 
tre  de  m'embarquer  en  qualite  de  volontaire  a  la  recherche 
de  science  maritime.  II  s'opposa  a  eecl,  mais  en  mcme 
temps  approuva  une  quantite  d'avis  d'entreprises  partic- 
ulieres,  que  j 'avals  redig^s  pour  sa  consideration. 

Deux  Messieurs  furent  nommfes  pour  determiner  avec 
moi  les  plans  qui  devaient  etre  adoptes  lesquels  m'assure- 
rent  que  trois  des  meilleures  I'regates  en  France  avec  deux 
transports,  et  une  quantity  de  bateaux,  seraient  imm^diate- 
ment  mises  sous  mes  ordres,  pour  poursui\Te  tels  de  mes 

but  that  Congress  would  again  show  me  a  preference,  M.  de  Sartine, 
however,  thought  proper  to  prevent  my  departure  by  writing  to  the  plen- 
ipotentiaries (without  my  knov»'ledge)  requesting  that  I  might  be  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  Europe  and  that  the  Ranger  be  sent  back  to  America 
under  another  commander,  he  having  special  services  which  he  wished 
me  to  execute.  This  request  they  readily  granted,  and  1  was  flattered  by 
the  x^rospect  of  being  enabled  to  testify  by  my  services  my  gratitude  to 
your  Majesty  as  the  first  prince  who  has  bo  generously  acknowledged  our 
indenendence. 

There  was  an  interval  of  more  than  three  months  before  the  Indien 
could  be  got  afloat.  To  employ  that  period  usefully,  when  your  Majest}''a 
Fleet  was  ordered  to  sail  from  Brest,  I  proposed  to  the  Minister  to  em- 
bark in  it  as  a  volunteer  in  pursuit  of  marine  knowledge.  He  objected 
to  this,  but  at  the  same  time  approved  a  variety  of  suggestions  for  pri- 
vate enterprises  which  I  had  drawn  up  for  his  consideration. 

Two  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  settle  with  me  the  plans  that  were 
to  be  adopted — who  gave  me  aBsurance  that  three  of  the  best  frigates  in 
France,  with  two  tenders  and  a  number  of  boats,  should  be  immediately 

156 


AN    APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

pro  jets  que  je  jugerais  ai  propos,  inais  tout  ceci  n'arriva  S 
rien,  quand  je  croj^ais  qu'il  n'y  manquait  que  la  signature 
de  Votre  Majeste. 

On  se  proposait  de  mettre  sous  mes  ordres  un  autre  ar- 
mament, compose  de  canots  et  de  petits  vaisseaux  a  L' Ori- 
ent, pour  elf  ray  er  les  cotes  de  I'Angleterre,  et  contenir  les 
corsaires  de  Jersey,  mais  lieureuseuient  pour  moi,  ceci  aussi 
s'ecroula,  et  je  fus  sauv6  de  la  ruine  et  du  d6shonneur ; 
car  comme  je  trouve  maintenant,  tous  les  vaisseaux  vo- 
guaient  lentement,et  leur  force  reunie  etait  tres  insignifiante. 

Le  ministre  alors  trouva  propre  que  je  retournasse  si 
Brest  pour  prendre  commandement  du  Lively,  et  me  joindre 
a  quelques  fregates  pour  une  expedition  de  St.  Malo  a  la 
mer  du  Nord.  Je  retournai  en  hate  pour  le  faire,  et  trouva 
que  le  Lively  avait  6t6  donne  si  Brest,  avant  que  le  ministre 
m'en  fait  mention  de  ce  vaisseau  a  Versailles.  C'^tait 
eependant  un  autre  disappointment  pas  malheureux,  car 
Je  Lively  se  montre  comme  voilier  et  en  equipement,  bien 
inferieur  au  Ranger,  mais  plus  particulicrement  si  c'est 
vrai,  comme  je  I'ai  appris  depuis,  que  le  ministre  avait 
I'intention  de  donner  le  commandement-en-chef  de  l'exp6- 

put  under  my  command,  and  that  I  should  pursue  such  of  my  own  proj- 
ects as  I  thought  proper  ;  but  this  fell  to  nothing  when  I  believed  that 
your  Majesty's  signature  only  was  wanting. 

Another  armament,  composed  of  cutters  and  small  vessels  at  I'Orient, 
was  proposed  to  be  put  under  my  command  to  alarm  the  coasts  of  Eng- 
land and  check  the  Jersey  privateers;  but  happily  for  me  this  also 
failed  and  I  was  saved  from  ruin  and  dishonor ;  for,  as  I  now  find,  all 
the  vessels  sailed  slow  and  their  united  force  was  very  insignificant. 

The  Minister  then  thought  fit  that  I  should  return  to  Brest  to  com- 
mand the  Lively  and  join  some  frigates  in  an  expedition  from  St.  Malo  to 
the  North  Sea.  I  returned  in  haste  for  that  purpose  and  found  that  the 
command  of  the  Lively  had  been  bestowed  at  Brest  before  the  Minister 
had  mentioned  that  ship  to  me  at  Versailles.  This  was,  however,  an- 
other fortunate  disappointment,  as  the  Lively  proves  both  in  sailing  and 
equipment  much  inferior  to  the  Ranger  ;  but  more  especially,  if  it  be 
true  as  I  have  since  understood,  that  the  Minister  intended  to  give  the 
chief  command  to  a  lieutenant,  which  Avould  have  occasioned  a  disagree- 

157 


PAUL    JONES 

dition  a  un  lieutenant,  ce  qui  aurait  occasionne  un  malen- 
tendu  bien  desagreable  ;  car,  6tnnt  officier  de  premier  rang 
dans  la  marine  americaine,  qui  a  tou jours  6te  honore  de  la 
faveur  et  de  I'amitie  du  Congres  je  ne  peux  recevoir  les 
ordres  de  n'importe  quel  officier  inferieur. 

Mon  dessein  etait  la  destruction  de  la  fiotte  anglaise  de 
la  Baltique,  de  grande  importance  pour  la  marine  de 
I'ennemi  et  protegee  par  une  seule  frigate  ! 

Je  me  serais  tenu  responsable  pour  sa  r^ussite,  si  j 'avals 
commande  1' expedition. 

M.  de  Sartine  plus  tard  ordonna  au  comte  d'Orvilliers  de 
me  recevoir  a  bord  de  la  fiotte,  conformement  a  ma  pro- 
position d'auparavant,  mais  I'ordre  n'arriva  qu'apres  le 
depart  de  la  fiotte  de  Brest  pour  la  derniere  fois,  ni  m'aver- 
tit-on  de  la  circonstance  avant  que  la  fiotte  eut  retourn^  ici. 

De  cette  mani^re  ai-j'et6  enchain^  dans  une  inactivity 
honteuse  pendant  presque  cinq  mois.  J'ai  perdu  la  meilleure 
saison  de  I'annee  et  telles  opportunites  de  servir  ma  patrie 
et  acquerir  de  I'honneur,  que  je  ne  puis  esperer  de  nouveau 
pendant  cette  guerre,  et,  si  mon  chagrin  complet,  n'ayant 
13as  de  commandement,  je  suis  partout  regard^  comme  un 
officier  rejete,  et  en  disgrace  pour  des  raisons  secretes. 

able  situation  ;  for  as  an  officer  of  the  first  rank  in  the  American  marine, 
who  has  ever  been  honored  with  the  favor  and  friendship  of  Congress,  I 
could  receive  orders  from  no  inferior  officer  whatever.  My  plan  was  to 
destroy  the  English  Baltic  fleet,  of  great  consequence  to  the  enemy's 
marine  and  then  protected  by  only  a  single  frigate.  I  would  have 
held  myself  responsible  for  its  success  had  I  commanded  the  expedi- 
tion. 

M.  de  Sartine  afterward  sent  orders  to  the  Count  d'Orvilliers  to  re- 
ceive me  on  board  the  fleet  agreeably  to  my  former  proposal,  but  the  order 
did  not  arrive  until  after  the  departure  of  the  fleet  the  last  time  from 
Brest,  nor  was  I  made  acquainted  with  the  circumstance  until  the  fleet 
returned  here. 

Thus,  Sire,  have  I  been  chained  down  to  shameful  inactivity  for  nearly 
five  months.  I  have  lost  the  best  season  of  the  year  and  such  opportuni- 
ties of  serving  my  country  and  acquiring  honor  as  I  can  hardly  expect 
again  in  this  war  ;  and  to  my  infinite  mortificatioD,  having  no  command, 

158 


AN   APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

J'ai  6crit  des  lettres  respectueuses  au  ministre,  et  il  n'a 
pas  daign6  repondre  a  une  seule.  J'ai  6crit  au  Prince  de 
Nassau  avec  aussi  peu  d'effet,  et  je  n'apprends  pas  qu'au- 
cune  excuse  a  6te  faite  au  grand  et  v6n6rable  Dr.  Franklin, 
dont  le  ministre  s'est  servi  comme  instrument  pour  me 
trainer  dans  des  ennuis  si  peu  merites. 

Ayant  6crit  au  Congres  de  ne  me  r^server  aucune  com- 
mand ement  en  Amerique  ma  sensibilite  est  d'autant  plus 
affectee  par  cette  situation  indigne  devant  la  flotte  de  Votre 
Majeste.  Neanmoins  je  ne  fais  aucune  observation  sur  le 
trait  ement  que  j'ai  re9u. 

Quoique  je  ne  desire  pas  devenir  mon  propre  panegyriste, 
je  dois  prier  a  Votre  Majesty  la  permission  d' observer  que  je 
ne  suis  pas  un  aventurier  a  la  recherche  des  richesses,  dont, 
grace  a  Dieu,  j'en  ai  suffisamment. 

Quand  les  drapeaux  americains  furent  deploy^s  pour  la 
premiere  fois,  je  tirai  mon  epee  a  I'appui  de  la  dignite 
viol6e  et  des  droits  de  la  nature  humaine  ;  et  I'honneur 
ainsi  que  le  devoir  me  poussent  avec  Constance  a  continuer 
cette  carriere  et  d'y  sacrifier  non  seulement  mes  jouissances 
personelles,  mais  meme  la  vie,  s'il  le  faut. 

I  am  considered  everywhere  an  officer  cast  off  and  in  disgrace  for  secret 
reasons. 

I  have  written  respectful  letters  to  the  Minister,  none  of  which  has 
he  condescended  to  answer.  I  have  written  to  the  Prince  of  Nassau  with 
as  little  effect  and  I  do  not  learn  that  any  apology  has  been  made  to  the 
great  and  venerable  Dr.  Franklin,  whom  the  Minister  has  made  the  in- 
strument of  bringing  me  into  such  unmerited  trouble. 

Having  written  to  Congress  to  reserve  no  command  for  me  in  Amer- 
ica, my  sensibilities  are  the  more  affected  by  this  unworthy  situation  in 
sight  of  your  Majesty's  fleet.  I,  however,  make  no  comment  on  the  treat- 
ment I  have  experienced. 

Although  I  do  not  wish  to  be  my  own  eulogist,  I  must  beg  your  Maj- 
esty's permission  to  observe  that  I  am  not  an  adventurer  in  search  of 
fortune,  of  which,  thank  God,  I  have  sufficient  for  my  needs. 

When  the  American  flag  was  first  displayed  I  drew  my  sword  in  su|>- 
port  of  the  violated  dignity  and  rights  of  human  nature  ;  and  both  honor 
and  duty  prompt  me  to  steadfastly  continue  the  righteous  pursuit  and  to 

159 


PAUL   JO^^ES 

II  me  faut  avouer  que  les  g6n6reuses  louanges  que  j'ai 
regues  du  Congres  et  des  autres  surpassent  les  nierites  de 
nies  services  pass6es — done,  je  desire  le  plus  ardemment  des 
opportunit^s  futures  de  teinoigner  ma  reconnaissance  par 
mon  aetivite. 

Comme  Votre  Majeste,  en  embrassant  la  cause  de  TAm^ri- 
que,  est  devenue  "  le  protecteur  des  droits  de  la  nature 
humaine  "  je  suis  persuad6  qu'elle  ne  regardera  pas  avec 
indifference  ma  position  et  ne  souffrira  pas  que  je  reste  plus 
longtemps  dans  cette  disgrace  insupportable. 

Je  suis,  avec  reconnaissance  complete  et  profond  respect. 
Sire, 

Le  plus  oblig^,  le  plus  ob6issant  et  le  plus  humble  des 
serviteurs  de  Votre  Majesty. 

Paul  Jones. 

Jones  then  enclosed  the  foregoing-  letter  in  one  of 
the  same  date  to  the  Duchess  de  Chartres,  which 
we  also  give  in  the  original  text.* 

sacrifice  to  it  not  only  my  private  enjoyments  but  even  life,  if  necessary. 
I  must  acknowledge  that  the  generous  praise  I  have  received  from  Con- 
gress and  others  exceeds  the  merits  of  my  past  services,  and  therefore  I 
the  more  ardently  wish  for  future  opportunity  of  testifying  my  gratitude 
by  my  activity. 

As  your  Majesty,  by  espousing  the  cause  of  America,  has  become 
the  "  Protector  of  the  Rights  of  Man,"  I  am  persuaded  that  you  will  not 
disregard  my  situation  nor  suffer  me  to  longer  writhe  in  this  unsupport- 

able  disgrace ! 

(Signed  etc.),         Paul  Jones. 

*  With  the  English  text  of  his  letter  to  the  King,  Jones  forwarded 
also  to  Dr.  Franklin  a  translation  of  the  letter  he  wrote  to  the  Duchess 
de  Chartres.     This  was  as  follows  : 

Brest,  October  19, 1778. 
To  Her  Royal  Highness, 

The  Duchesse  de  Chartres. 
Madame  :  The  affairs  which  brought  me  from  Brest  to  Paris  last 
summer,  when  I  had  the  honor  of  offering  my  homage  to  Your  Royal 

160 


AN    APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

Brest,  le  19  Octobre,  1778. 
A  Madame  la  Duehesse  de  Chartres. 

Madame  :  Les  affaires  qui  m'ont  fait  venir  de  Brest  a  Paris 
r^te  passe,  qaand  j'ai  eu  le  plaisir  d'offrir  mes  hommages  a 
Votre  Altesse  Royale,  me  f ournirent  un  espoir  bien  raisonna- 
ble  de  pouvoir  imm6diatement  faire  au  littoral  de  rennemi 
unevisite  beaucoup  plus  heureuse  que  celle  dont  j'etais  :"i 
ce  moment  retourne.  Je  me  suis  presents  a  Versailles  sur  le 
desire  special  de  M.  de  Sartine,  lequel,  en  consequence  de 
I'opinion  eleve,  qu'il  se  disait  avoir,  de  ma  conduite  et 
bravoure,  proposa  volontairement  (avec  le  consentement  et 
I'approbation  de  Sa  Majeste,  comme  je  le  comprenais)  de 
m'accorder  un  commandement  bien  honorable  ;  ayant  lui- 
meme  ecrit  une  lettre  a  leurs  Excellences,  les  Envois  Ameri- 
cains  demandant  comme  une  grande  faveur  qu'il  me  serait 
permis  de  rester  en  Europe.  Pourtant  le  Ministre  n'a  fait 
aucune  excuse  pour  tout  ceci  ni  a  moi  (qui  ne  cherchais  pas 
le  brevet)  ni  d  son  Excellence,  le  Dr.  Franklin,  par  qui  il 
fut  accepte. 

J'eus  riionneur  de  fournir  le  Ministre  avec  une  quantite 
de  plans  pour  des  expeditions  secretes,  qu'il  approuva, 
mais  les  differents  armements  qu'on  a  proposS  de  mettre 

Highness,  afforded  me  a  very  fair  prospect  of  being  at  once  enabled  to 
pay  a  much  more  successful  visit  to  the  enemy's  coast  than  that  from 
which  1  was  then  just  returned.  I  appeared  at  Versailles  by  the  partic- 
ular desire  of  M.  de  Sartine,  who,  in  consequence  of  the  high  opinion  he 
professed  to  hold  of  my  conduct  and  courage,  voluntarily  proposed  (as  I 
understood  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  His  Majesty)  to  bestow 
on  me  a  very  honorable  command,  he  (the  Minister)  having  written  a 
letter  to  their  excellencies  the  American  plenipotentiaries  requesting  as  a 
favor  that  I  might  be  permitted  to  remain  in  Europe.  Yet  the  Minister 
has  not  made  any  explanation  of  all  this,  either  to  me  (who  did  not 
solicit  the  commission)  or  to  his  Excellency  Dr.  Franklin,  through 
whom  it  was  accepted. 

I  had  the  honor  to  offer  the  Minister  a  number  of  plans,  which  he  ap- 
proved, for  secret  expeditions,  but  the  various  armaments  which  have 
been  proposed  to  place  under  my  command  to  pursue  my  projects  have 
every  one  fallen  to  naught ;  some  of  them  at  the  moment  when  I  was  led 

Vol.  L— 11  161 


PAUL   JONES 

sous  mes  ordres  pour  poursuivre  mes  propres  desseins,  tous 
ne  sont  arrives  a  rien  ;  quelques  uns  nigme  au  moment  ou  Ton 
me  menait  a  croire  qu'il  n'y  manquait  que  la  signature  du 
roi.  Ainsi  on  s'est  amuse  avec  moi  pendant  presque  cinq 
mois,  la  meilleure  saison  de  I'annee,  et  telles  opportunites 
de  servir  ma  patrie  et  acquerir  des  honneurs,  que  je 
n'attends  plus  durant  la  guerre,  sont  perdues. 

J'ai  ecrit  au  Congres  de  ne  me  reserver  aucun  com- 
mandement  en  Amerique,  et  a  mon  chagrin  inexprimabie, 
n'ayant  pas  de  commandement  ici,  je  suis  partout  regarde 
comme  un  officier  en  disgrace.  Je  ne  suis  pas  un  aven- 
turier  a  la  poursuite  de  la  fortune  ;  au  contraire  j'ai  mis  de 
cote  mes  jouissances  de  la  vie  privee,  et  j'ai  tire  mon  epee 
au  commencement  de  cette  guerre  qu'a  I'appui  de  la  dig- 
nite  et  des  droits  violes  de  la  nature  humaine  ;  et  6tant 
honore,  comme  je  le  suis,  de  la  faveur  et  de  I'amitiS  du 
Congres,  et  I'honneur  et  le  devoir  me  poussent  avec  con- 
stance  a  perseverer,  jusqu'a  ce  que  ces  droits  soient  6tablis, 
ou  perdre  ma  vie  dans  cette  juste  carri^re. 

Mais  d'autant  que  je  vois  nul  espoir  d'etre  bientot  de- 
livr^  de  cette  situation  indigne,  j'ai  ecrit  la  lettre  ci-incluse 

to  believe  that  the  King's  signature  alone  was  wanting.  Thus  I  have 
been  trifled  with  for  nearly  five  months,  the  best  season  of  the  year,  and 
such  opportuuities  of  serving  my  country  and  acquiring  honor  as  I 
cannot  again  expect  in  the  course  of  this  war  have  been  lost.  I  had 
written  to  Congress  to  reserve  no  command  for  me  in  American  waters, 
and,  to  my  inexpressible  mortification,  having  no  command  here,  1  am 
looked  upon  evcrywiiere  as  au  officer  in  disgrace.  I  am  not,  as  your 
Royal  Highness  graciously  knows,  an  adventurer  in  search  of  fortune. 
On  the  contrary,  I  laid  aside  my  enjoyments  of  private  life  at  the  com- 
mencement of  this  war  and  drew  my  sword  m  defence  of  the  dignity  and 
the  violated  rights  of  man.  Honored  as  I  have  been  and  am  with  the 
favor  and  confidence  of  Congress,  both  ambition  and  sense  of  duty 
prompt  me  to  steadfastly  persevere  until  those  rights  are  established  or 
my  own  life  yielded  up  in  that  rigliteous  endeavor. 

But,  seeing  no  prospect  of  early  relief  from  this  galling  situation,  I 
have  written  the  enclosed  letter  to  His  Majesty,  which  I  must  beseech 
your  Royal  Highness  to  present  to  him ;  whereby  you  may  add  a  sin- 

1G2 


AN    APPEAL    TO    KING    LOUIS 

a  Sa  Majeste  ;  et  il  me  faut  prier  Votre  Altesse  Royale  de 
la  presenter.  Elle  ajoutera  ainsi  une  obligation  singu- 
liere  si  ce  que  je  dois  deja  a  vos  attentions  condescendantes 
d'auparavant. 

Je  serais  extremement  heureux  de  reussir  par  1' influence 
d'une  princesse  si  bien  aim^e  et  d'une  protectrice  si  puis- 
sante,  que  j'estime  et  respecte  parfaitement,  etant  vrai- 
ment  et  toujours  dans  la  sincerite  naive  de  mon  coeur, 

Madame, 
Le  tres   ob^issant  et   tr^s  humble  serviteur  de  Votre  Al- 
tesse Royale, 

Paul  Jones. 

Then,  still  under  date  of  October  19tli,  Jones  wrote 
to  Dr.  Franklin,  enclosing*  copies  of  liis  letters  to 
the  King  and  the  Duchess  de  Chartres,  and  asking  the 
Doctor's  approval  of  his  action.  The  material  part 
of  the  letter  he  wrote  to  the  Doctor  was  as  follows  : 

I  hope  you  will  find  the  within  letter  to  the  King  entirely 
free  from  asperity  or  ill-nature.  ...  It  cannot,  I  think, 
do  harm,  and  unless  you  disapprove  it,  I  beg  that  it  may 
have  its  course.  The  Duchess  de  Chartres  will,  I  am  per- 
suaded, deliver  it  into  the  King's  hands.     .     , 

With  the  veneration  and  affection  of  a  son  who  ardently 
wishes  to  render  himself  worthy  your  regard,  I  am,  etc., 

Paul  Jo^^es. 

No  papers  are  extant,  within  our  research,  to  show 
that  Dr.  Franklin  directly  either  approved  or  dis- 

gular,  a  unique  obligation  to  Avhat  I  already  owe  to  your  former  gra- 
cious kindness  and  condescending  patronage.  I  should  be  most  happy 
to  succeed  through  the  influence  of  a  princess  so  well-beloved,  who  is  so 
potent  an  advocate,  whom  I  so  perfectly  esteem  and  so  devoutly  respect, 
being  ever  and  faithfully  in  the  artless  sincerity  of  my  heart, 

Your  Humblest  Servitor, 

Paul  Jones. 

163 


PAUL   JONES 

approved  Jones's  project  of  appealing  to  the  King*. 
Jones  says  nothing-  on  that  subject  in  any  of  his 
letters  or  journals,  except  in  a  letter  to  the  King-  long 
afterward,  in  which,  after  acknowledging  the  honor 
of  knighthood  conferred  upon  him,  he  speaks  of  the 
latter  event  as  "a  most  touching  sequel  to  the 
singular  condescension  of  your  Most  Gracious 
Majesty  on  a  previous  occasion,  which  had  the  result 
of  enabling  me  to  perform  the  services  your  Majesty 
has  now  deigned  to  approve  by  so  eminent  a  mark  of 
your  royal  pleasure." 

The  only  other  contemporaneous  documentary 
reference  to  the  affair  that  we  have  been  able  to  find 
is  a  postscript  to  a  letter  written  October  22,  1778, 
by  "William  Franklin  to  Captain  Jones.  It  is  printed 
on  page  142  of  a  book  published  in  1830,  at  New 
York,  entitled  "Life  and  Correspondence  of  Paul 
Jones ;  from  Original  Letters  and  Manuscripts  in 
Possession  of  Miss  Janette  Taylor;"  which  was 
mainly  a  rei3rint  of  a  book  published  in  Scotland 
in  1826. 

Miss  Taylor  was  Captain  Jones's  niece,  daughter 
of  his  sister  Janette.  A  considerable  part  of  the 
Jones  papers  fell  into  her  hands,  and  they  were 
edited,  with  some  incapacity,  by  Dr.  Kobert  Sands. 
It  is,  nevertheless,  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  col- 
lections of  Jones's  papers  in  English,  and  the  book 
is,  we  believe,  now  quite  rare. 

The  quotation  from  young  Franklin's  letter  (he 
was  Dr.  Franklin's  grandson  and  private  secretary) 
is  as  follows  :  "  .  .  .  It  is  my  grandfather's  opin- 
ion that  there  will  be  no  occasion  to  send  those  let- 
ters ;  and  I  imagine  they  were  written  before  you 

161 


AN   APPEAL   TO   KING  LOUIS 

heard  of  the  Minister's  final  determination.    If,  how- 
ever, you  still  think  they  ought  to  be  sent,  you  have 

only  to  order  it." 

Dr  Franklin  does  not  mention  the  affair  except  in 
an  tinoffioial  letter  to  Hartley  soon  afterward,  when 
he  says,  as  part  of  the  gossip  of  the  day  :  Jones 
wote  a  letter  to  the  King,  on  ^yhich  he  asked  my 
opinion,  which  I  did  not  give,  beyond,  perhaps,  sug- 
gesting that  it  was  a  most  unusual  proceeding.  He 
has,  I  believe,  since  obtained  audience. 

The  inference  is  that  Dr.  Franklin,  though,  of 
course,  regarding  Jones's  action  as  contrary  to  es- 
tablished etiquette,  did  not  choose  to  take  the  re- 
sponsibility of  controUiughim  one  way  or  tlie  other 
i;  this  proceeding.    He  knew  that  Jones  would  obey 
him  if  he  should  disapprove  the  act.    But  he  doubt- 
less thought  that  no  harm  could  come  of  it,  even  it 
it  failed,  while  there  was  a  chance  that  the  eminent 
women  who  had  interested  themselves  m  his  fort- 
unes might  succeed  where  statesmen  and  diploma- 
tists had  failed.  _  . 

The  Duchess  de  Chartres  received  the  letters  m 
due  time,  but  it  was  the  3d  of  December  before  she 
found  what  she  considered  a  suitable  opportunity  to 
hand  Jones's  letter  or  petition  to  the  King.     The 
immediate  result  was  a  summons  of  Jones  to  audi- 
ence with  the  King,  December  17,  1778.    This  au- 
dience, Jones  says  in  his  journal  of  1782,     was  of 
nearly  an  hour's  duration,"  but  he  makes  no  attempt 
to  state  what  was  said,  for  the  quite  sufficient  reason 
that  royal  audiences  were  always,  by  the  most  in- 
flexible rules  of  Court  etiquette,  confidential.^ 

That  Jones  impressed  the  King  favorably  is,  how- 

165 


PAUL   JONES 

ever,  amply  proved  by  the  fact  that  on  the  8th  of 
January,  1779,  the  King*  directed  his  Minister  of 
Marine,  de  Sartine,  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  Cap- 
tain Jones  a  ship  equal — or  as  nearly  so  as  practi- 
cable— to  the  Indien,  and  to  afford  him  such  aid 
from  the  resources  of  the  French  dockyards  as  he 
might  need  ;  also  to  authorize  him  to  recruit  French 
volunteers  to  whatever  extent  might  be  necessary  to 
till  up  his  crew.  Pursuant  to  this  order,  M.  de  Sar- 
tine, under  date  of  "  Yersailles,  February  4,  1779," 
wrote  to  Jones  as  follows : 

Sir  :  I  announce  to  you  that  in  consequence  of  the  expo- 
sition which  I  have  laid  before  the  King  of  the  distinguished 
manner  in  which  you  have  served  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  entire  confidence  which  your  conduct  has  merited  on 
the  part  of  Congress,  His  Majesty  has  thought  proper  to 
place  under  your  command  the  ship  le  Duras,  of  forty  guns, 
now  at  r  Orient.  I  am  about,  in  consequence,  to  issue  the 
necessary  orders  for  the  complete  armament  of  the  said  ship. 
.  .  .  As  you  may  find  too  much  difficulty  in  enlisting 
a  sufficient  number  of  Americans,  the  King  permits  you  to 
levy  volunteers  (French)  until  you  obtain  a  sufficient  num- 
ber.    .     .     . 

When  Jones  received  this  letter  he  was  the  guest 
of  Dr.  Franklin  at  Passy,  and  at  once  responded  in 
suitable  terms,  expressing"  his  profound  gratitude, 
and  concluding:  as  follows  : 


'» 


Your  having  permitted  me  to  alter  the  name  of  the  ship 
from  * '  le  Duras  "  to  "  le  Bon  Homme  Richard  ' '  [Dr.  Frank- 
lin's nom  de  plume]  has  given  me  a  pleasing  opportunity  of 
paying  a  well-merited  compliment  to  a  great  and  good 
man,  to  whom  I  am  under  obligations  and  who  honors 
me  with  his  friendship, 

IGP) 


AN   APPEAL   TO    KING   LOUIS 

In  his  journal  of  1787  Jones  thus  describes  what 
followed : 

Armed  at  last  with  such  authority,  and  with  rays  of  hope 
once  more  lighting  up  the  prospect,  my  first  devoir  was  at 
the  Palais  Royal  to  thank  the  more  than  royal— the  Divine 
— woman  to  whose  grace  I  felt  I  owed  all.  She  received  me 
with  her  customary  calmness.  To  my,  perhaps,  impassioned 
sentiments  of  gratitude  she  responded,  with  serene  com- 
posure, that  if  she  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  the 
affair  to  successful  issue  it  was  no  more  than  her  duty  to  a 
man  who,  as  she  believed,  sought  only  opportunity  to  serve 
the  common  cause  ;  now  equally  as  dear  to  France  as  to 
America,  and  that  she  was  sure  I  would  make  the  best  of 
the  opportunity  that  had  been  brought  about. 

At  the  last  she  said  there  was  a  more  serious  concern  that 
had  to  come  to  her  knowledge  ;  that  she  knew  I  was  not  at 
the  moment  suitably  provided  with  private  resources,  and 
that  in  consequence  she  had  directed  her  banker  to  place 
to  my  credit  at  the  house  of  his  correspondent  in  1' Orient, 
M.  Gourlade,  a  certain  sum,  the  notice  of  which  I  would 
find  awaiting  me  on  my  arrival  there  ;  and  she  enjoined 
upon  me  to  offer  neither  thanks  nor  protestations  to  her  on 
account  of  it. 

I  tried  to  inform  her  that  some  provision  had,  I  under- 
stood, been  made  by  M.  de  Chaumont  for  my  expenses ; 
but  she  quite  impatiently  retorted  that  M.  de  Chaumont 's 
arrangements  were  not  her  affair,  and  commanded  me  to  be 
silent  on  the  subject.  Then  she  dismissed  me  with  *  *  bon 
voyage  ;  ne  m'oubliez  pas, "  and  a  pleasant  reminder  that  I 
had  long  ago  promised,  if  fortune  should  smile  upon  me, 
to  *'lay  an  English  frigate  at  her  feet  !  "  Whereupon  I 
took  my  leave  and  at  once  set  out  for  1' Orient.* 

*  Jones  nowhere  states  or  even  intimates  the  amount  of  this  benefice. 
But  Louis  Philippe  long  afterward  told  Gouverneur  Morris  that  it  was 
10,000  louis  (about  $47,500  ;  calculating  the  louis  d'or  at  nineteen  shillings, 
sterling),  the  purchasing  power  of  which  then  was  easily  greater  than  that 

1G7 


PAUL   JONES 

Arriving-  at  I'Orient,  Jones  found  le  Duras  to  be 
an  old  East  Indiaman,  recently  purchased  by  the 
King-  from  the  French  East  India  Company  with  the 
intention  of  using  her  as  an  armed  transport  to  con- 
vey reinforcements  to  the  garrisons  of  the  Isles  of 
France  and  of  Bourbon,  and  to  Pondicherry.  She 
had  been  built  at  Nantes,  or  on  the  Loire,  in  1766, 
during  the  general  peace  that  followed  the  Old 
French  War,  for  the  commercial  service  of  the  East 
India  Company  of  France.  She  was  a  large  ship. 
Like  all  East  Indiamen  of  her  day,  she  was  part 
merchantman,  part  passenger-ship,  and  part  man-of- 
war.  She  had  a  roomy  hold  for  cargo,  large  accom- 
modations for  passengers,  and  mounted  a  respectable 
battery. 

Her  principal  dimensions  were  as  follows  : 

Length  on  the  main  deck 153  feet 

Length  of  keel  for  tonnage 128    *' 

Extreme  breadth 40    " 

Depth  of  hold 19    '* 

Burthen  (French  measurement) 998  tons. 

Her  armament,  as  Jones  found  her,  was  fourteen 
long  twelve-pounders,  fourteen  long  nines,  and 
twelve  six-pounders. 

She  had  been  originally  very  well  built,  but  the 
numerous  round  voyages  she  had  made  to  the  East 

of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  now  ;  perhaps  equal  to  that  of  SI 25,000.  In 
1786,  Jones,  having  plenty  of  money  at  his  command,  asked  the  Duke — 
then  Duke  of  Orleans — if  it  would  be  proper  for  him  to  offer  payment 
of  the  sum  which  Mary  Adelaide  of  Orleans  had  placed  to  his  credit  in 
1779.  "Not  unless  you  wish  her  to  dismiss  you  from  her  esteem  and 
banish  you  from  her  salon  !  "  replied  the  Duke,  tersely.  "  She  did  not 
lend  it  to  you  ;  she  gave  it  to  the  canse." 

1G8 


AN   APPEAL   TO   KING   LOUIS 

Indies  in  twelve  years  had  pretty  much  worn  her  out, ' 
and  the  refit  she  had  received  for  service  as  an  armed 
transport  was  by  no  means  sufficient  to  convert  her 
into  a  regular  man-of-war. 

The  only  intelligible  description  of  the  Duras — or 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard — extant  is  that  of  Jones 
himself,  and  he  also  preserved  among  his  papers  a 
very  creditable  "  outboard  profile  "  of  her,  a  repro- 
duction of  which  is  printed  opposite  the  following 
page,  showing  her  hull  and  the  arrangement  of  her 
battery  after  his  alterations.     He  says  ; 

.  .  .  She  was  higher  out  of  water  at  the  plank-sheer 
than  usual  with  vessels  of  her  length.  Her  main  or  gun- 
deck  was  roomy  and  of  good  height  under  beams.  She 
had  a  long  top-gallant  forecastle  breaking  aft  nearly  half 
way  from  the  fore  to  the  main  mast  ;  a  long  quarter-deck 
breaking  forward  of  the  mizzen-mast  about  two-thirds  the 
way  to  the  main  mast ;  and  still  above  this  a  high,  short 
poop-deck,  terminating  forward  in  a  round-house,  through 
which  the  mizzen-mast  was  stepped.  Below  the  main  deck, 
aft,  was  a  large  steerage,  or,  as  it  would  be  called  in  a  man- 
of-war,  a  **  gun-room,"  extending  some  distance  forward  of 
the  step  of  the  mizzen-mast.  This  deck  had  been  used  for 
passengers  when  the  ship  was  an  Indiaman ;  but  as  the 
port  sills  of  it  were  a  good  four  feet  above  water  when  the 
ship  was  at  her  deep  trim,  I  determined  to  make  a  partial 
lower  gun-deck  of  it,  by  cutting  six  ports  on  a  side  and 
mounting  in  them  twelve  eighteen-pounders.  But,  being 
able  to  obtain  only  eight  eighteens,  I  cut  only  four  ports  on 
a  side,  and  in  fact  put  to  sea  with  only  six  eighteen-pound- 
ers, two  of  the  eight  being  unfit  for  service  when  turned 
over  to  me. 

I  then  mounted  twenty-eight  long  twelve-pounders  on 
the  gun-deck,  put  eight  of  the  long  nines  on  the  quarter- 

109 


PAUL   JONES 

deck,  and  discarded  the  six-pounders  of  her  old  battery. 
This  gave  her  a  battery  of  forty-two  guns,  tlirowing  two 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  pounds  of  metal  in  single  broadside, 
counting  the  eighteen-pounders,  or  two  hundred  and  four 
pounds  without  them.  This  made  her  with  the  eighteen- 
pounders  a  fair  equivalent  of  a  thirty-six-gun  frigate  ;  or 
Avithout  them,  the  equal  of  a  thirty-two  as  usually  rated  in 
the  regular  rate-lists  of  the  English  and  French  navies. 

Her  spar  and  sail  plan  was  well  adapted  to  the  steady 
long-reaching  of  East  India  voyages  in  trade  winds  and  for 
ease  in  lying-to  in  contrary  weather ;  but  not  meant  for 
smartness  of  handling  or  quickness  of  manoeuvre  in  action. 
She  sailed  well  going  free  or  with  the  wind  abaft  the  beam. 
But  she  became  dull  and  slow  the  closer  she  was  hauled, 
and,  when  close  hauled,  she  pointed  up  badlj-,  steered  hard 
and  unsteady,  and  made  much  lee-way.  She  would  not  hold 
her  luff  five  minutes  with  the  weather-leech  shivering  in 
the  foretopsail,  and  had  to  be  either  eased  off  or  broached 
to  quickly  or  she  would  fall  off  aback,  if  not  closely  conned. 
I  mention  this  because  the  ability  of  a  ship  to  hold  her 
luff,  if  necessary,  right  up  into  the  teeth  of  the  wind  and 
even  after  that  to  hold  steering- way  enough  to  wear  or  tack, 
as  occasion  may  require,  is  frequently  of  supreme  impor- 
tance in  battle  and,  all  other  things  being  equal,  has  decided 
the  fate  of  many  ship-to-ship  combats  at  sea.  As,  for  ex- 
ample, a  ship  that  can  hold  luff  better  than  her  adversary 
will  often,  when  fighting  on  a  wind,  get  a  chance  to  luff 
athwart  hawse  of  the  enemy  and  rake  him  or  lay  him  on 
board  or  even  tack  clear  round  his  bows  and  gain  the 
weather-gage  of  him  on  the  other  tack,  raking  him  a-bow 
as  he  comes  about. 

The  general  condition  of  the  ship  when  I  took  command 
may  be  known  by  the  fact  that  the  time  from  tlie  end  of 
February  to  the  first  of  June  was  consumed  in  necessary  re- 
fit and  alterations,  though  I  exhausted  every  endeavor  to 
hurry  them,  and  was  fairly  treated  by  the  French  dockyard 
authorities. 

170 


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AN   APPEAL   TO   KING    LOUIS 

By  June  1  she  was  in  as  good  condition  as  a  ship  of 
her  age  and  extremely  hard  service  could  be  put  in,  as  to 
hull  and  fittings,  while  I  had,  to  a  large  extent,  newly 
sparred  her  and  rove  new  rigging  and  newly-bent  the  more 
important  sails. 

During  this  time,  under  many  difficulties,  a  crew  of 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  all  told,  had  been  enlisted. 
Not  more  than  fifty,  including  oflicers,  were  Americans.  A 
hundred  and  ninety-odd  were  aliens ;  partly  recruited  from 
British  prisoners  of  war,  partly  Portuguese,  and  a  few 
French  sailors  or  fishermen.  In  addition  to  these  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  seamen,  I  shipped  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  French  soldiers  Avho  were  allowed  to  volunteer  from 
the  garrison,  few  or  none  of  whom  had  before  served 
aboard  ship,  and  the  commandant  of  the  dockyard  loaned 
me  twelve  regular  marines,  whom  I  made  non-commis- 
sioned officers.  The  regular  marine  guard  for  a  ship  of  the 
Richard' s  size  or  rate  would  be  about  fifty  to  sixty  of  all 
ranks.  My  reason  for  shipping  such  a  large  number  was 
that  I  meditated  descents  on  the  enemy's  coasts,  and  also 
that  I  wished  to  be  sure  of  force  enough  to  keep  my  mixed 
and  motley  crew  of  seamen  in  order. 

The  other  ships  of  the  squadron  were  the  Alliance, 
Pallas,  and  Vengeance,  with  a  coast-guard  cutter  called  the 
Cerf.  The  Alliance  was  a  new  frigate,  built  in  Salisbury, 
Mass.,  and  had  just  come  to  France  with  Lafayette  on 
board.  She  would  rate  as  a  large  thirty-two  or  medium 
thirty-six-gun  frigate,  carrying  a  gun-deck  battery  of 
twenty-six  long  twelve  -  pounders  and  ten  long  nines 
above.  She  was  sixty  or  seventy  men  short  of  her  regular 
complement. 

The  Pallas  had  been  built  as  a  twenty-eight-gun  frigate 
about  1758,  and  on  the  peace  of  1763  had  been  sold  out  of 
the  navy  to  the  (French)  East  India  Company,  who  had 
used  her  to  cruise  in  the  Eastern  seas  in  search  of  pirates. 
But  now  she  had  been  bought  back  into  the  King's  service, 
refitted  quite  thoroughly  and  carried  a  battery  of  twenty- 

171 


PAUL   JONES 

two  long  nine-pounders  and  ten  long  sixes,  with  a  comple- 
ment of  about  two  hundred  officers  and  men. 

The  Vengeance  was  a  little  twelve-gun  brig,  carrying  six- 
pounders,  and  had  formerly  been  used  as  dockyard  tender. 
The  Cerf ,  cutter,  need  not  be  described,  as  she  did  not  make 
the  cruise. 

"With  such  a  squadron  Jones  sailed  from  1' Orient 
June  19,  1779,  but  the  second  day  out  the  Alliance 
fouled  the  Richard,  causing-  so  much  damage  to  both 
that  the  squadron  was  com^^elled  to  return  to  port 
for  repairs,  which,  with  other  transactions,  con- 
sumed six  weeks.  But,  as  the  sequel  proved,  the 
accident  was  lucky  and  the  delay  it  caused  was, 
perhaps,  providential. 


172 


CHAPTEE  Yin 
ON  THE  BON  HOMME   RICHARD 

The  refit  of  the  damaged  ships  lost  valuable  time, 
but  it  also  was  the  means  of  gaining  an  invaluable 
reinforcement.  The  haughty  refusal  of  Lord  I'^orth's 
Ministry  to  an  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war  caused 
the  crew  of  the  Drake  and  other  British  seamen 
taken  by  Jones  in  the  Eanger  in  April  and  May,  1778, 
to  be  confined  on  board  a  hulk  called,  appropriately, 
the  Patience,  in  Brest  Harbor,  until  early  in  June, 
1779.  At  last  a  cartel  was  arranged.  The  British 
prisoners  were  sent  to  Plymouth,  one  hundred  and 
nineteen  in  number,  during  the  month  of  June,  and 
in  July  an  equal  number  of  American  prisoners 
were  sent  from  English  hulks  and  jails  to  Nantes. 
Jones  at  once  went  to  Nantes — about  a  day  and  a 
half's  journey  from  1' Orient  by  the  conveyances  of 
those  days — and  enlisted  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
of  the  one  hundred  and  nineteen  exchanged  Ameri- 
can sailors  for  his  squadron.  The  only  reason  why 
he  did  not  enlist  the  other  five  was  because  their 
sufferings  in  English  prisons  had  crippled  them 
beyond  the  possibility  of  further  active  service  ;  and 
of  the  one  hundred  and  fourteen  whom  he  did  enroll, 
many  were  barely  able  to  travel. 

Having  no  public  means  at  his  dis^Dosal,  Jones  paid 
for  the  transportation  of  these  sailors  from  Nantes 

173 


PAUL   JONES 

to  r Orient  out  of  his  own  pocket ;  and,  by  the  Tvaj^ 
with  some  of  the  funds  given  to  him  by  the  Duchess 
de  Chartres,  because,  at  that  time,  he  had  no  other 
personal  resources.  About  haK  of  these  men  were 
the  remnant  of  the  crew  of  the  Lexington,  captured 
more  than  a  year  before.  The  rest  were  men  taken 
in  privateers,  including  the  American  part  of  Cap- 
tain Conynghams  crew,  or  in  recaptured  prizes. 
Besides  these,  Jones  found  about  twenty  other 
American  sailors  adrift  at  Nantes,  and  thej^  all 
joined  him,  so  that  the  whole  force  he  took  with 
him  back  to  I'Orient  was  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  or  one  hundred  and  thirty-five,  all  Americans. 

This  reinforcement,  important  as  it  was  in  num- 
ber, was  yet  more  desirable  in  quality.  It  included 
Ptichard  Dale,  John  Louis  White,  Samuel  Stacey, 
John  Mayrant,  Nathaniel  Fanning,  Henry  Lunt,  John 
Calvin  Robinson,  Henry  Gardner,  Thomas  Potter, 
John  West  Linthwaite,  Jonas  Caswell,  Eobei-t 
Coram,  William  Clarke,  Thomas  Knight,  and  sev- 
eral others,  all  rated  as  commissioned,  warrant,  or 
chief  petty  officers  upon  the  reorganization  of  the 
Richard's  crew  as  soon  as  they  arrived  at  I'Orient.  In 
effecting  this  reorganization  Jones  discharged  quite 
a  number  of  the  aliens  in  his  original  crew  and  trans- 
ferred others  of  them  to  the  Alliance,  to  which  ship 
he  also  assigned  thirty  or  thirtj^-five  of  the  American 
sailors  brought  from  Nantes.  This  reinforced  the 
Alliance  to  the  extent  of  about  seventy-five  men  and 
brought  her  complement  quite  ui^  to  its  proper 
strength.  He  retained  one  hundred  of  the  Ameri- 
can recruits  in  the  Richard,  and  these,  with  the 
Americans  in  his  original  crew  of  June,  before  sail- 

174 


ox   THE   BON   HOMME    KICHARD 

ing  tlie  first  time,  brought  the  genuine  American 
strength  of  the  flag-ship  np  to  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  ofiicers  and 
men.  This  force  formed  the  fighting  backbone  of 
the  Kichard's  final  crew.  "What  she  did  with  them 
aboard  is  the  plainest  kind  of  history.  What  she 
might  have  done,  or  have  failed  to  do,  without  them, 
it  is  neither  useful  nor  pleasant  to  conjecture. 

Finally,  with  refitted  ships  and  reorganized  crews, 
Paul  Jones  was  ready  to  sail  from  the  roadstead  of 
Isle  de  Groaix  in  the  early  part  of  August,  1779, 
bound  on  a  cruise  around  the  British  Islands.  But 
even  at  this  stage  of  his  fortunes,  when,  after  many 
months  of  effort  and  many  moments  that  to  any  other 
man  would  have  been  moments  of  despair,  he  found 
himself  in  command  of  a  fairly  respectable  squadron, 
he  was  by  no  means  free  of  obstacles  or  released 
from  difficulties.  At  the  last  moment  before  sailing, 
when  there  was  no  time  for  argument  and  no  chance 
for  protest,  he,  together  with  all  the  captains  under 
his  command,  was  practically  compelled  to  sign  a 
singular  document  called  a  "  Concordat."  The  effect 
of  this  document  was  to  destroy  nearly,  if  not  wholly, 
the  disciplinary  value  of  his  nominal  seniority  ;  be- 
cause it  made  him  nothing  more  than  the  first  signer 
of  an  agreement  binding  all  alike  and  making  "  col- 
leagues "  of  those  who  should  have  been  his  subor- 
dinates. The  fact  that  success  was  achieved  in  spite 
of  this  unique  and  wholly  unmilitary  document  can- 
not obscure  the  other  fact  that  all  the  irregularities, 
delays,  partial  failures,  and  constant  insubordination 
that  marked  the  cruise  may  be  attributed  to  its  effect 
upon  the  minds  of  the  junior  captains,  and  particu- 

175 


PAUL   JONES 

larly  upon  the  already  half-crazed  brain  of  Pierre 
Landais,  captain  of  the  Alliance. 

No  record  can  be  found  in  the  archives  of  either 
France  or  the  United  States  to  explain  the  reason 
why  this  "  Concordat "  should  have  been  imposed 
upon  Jones  by  Le  Eay  de  Chaumont,  or  why  Dr. 
Franklin  required  Jones  to  si^  it,  as  he  did,  against 
his  will.  The  text  of  this  document  need  not  be 
reproduced  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  has  been 
printed  elsewhere  many  times,  and  that  its  effect 
was,  as  the  sequel  proved,  to  deprive  Jones  of  the 
real  or  substantial  power  that  should  always  inure  to 
the  commander  of  a  naval  expedition,  and  to  reduce 
him  to  the  status  of  a  mere  chief  adviser  to  his  other 
captains  ;  a  status  that  must  inevitably  have  wrecked 
the  fortunes  of  any  other  commander  except  him  ; 
and  it  must  be  said  that  by  no  means  the  least  merit 
of  the  unexampled  and  immortal  success  he  achieved 
in  spite  of  it,  lies  in  the  fact  that  his  genius,  sorely 
tried  as  it  had  been  by  other  obstacles,  finally  rose 
superior  to  even  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont's  "  Concordat." 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  nothing  remotely  approxi- 
mating this  document  has  ever  before  or  since 
been  known  or  heard  of  in  the  annals  of  naval  war- 
fare. No  description  of  it  could  possibly  compare, 
either  in  simple  truth  or  in  savage  satire,  with  that 
of  Jones  himself  in  a  letter  to  Joseph  Hewes  dated 
the  day  after  he  signed  it.  In  that  letter,  which 
enclosed  a  copy  of  the  "  Concordat,"  Jones  says  : 

.  .  I  am  sure  you  will  agi'ee  with  me  that  the  en- 
closed **  Concordat"  is  the  most  amazing  document  that 
the  putative  commander  of  a  naval  force  in  time  of  war  was 
ever  forced  to  sign  on  the  eve  of  weighing  anchor. 

176 


ON   THE   BON    HOMME    EICHiVRD 

I  am  tolerably  familiar  with  the  history  of  naval  opera- 
tions from  the  remotest  time  of  classical  antiquity  to  the 
present  day  ;  but  I  have  not  heard  or  read  of  anything  like 
this.  I  am  sure  that,  when  Themistocles  took  command  of 
the  Grecian  lieet,  he  was  not  compelled  to  sign  such  a 
*'  concordat ;  "  nor  can  I  find  anything  to  exhibit  that  Lord 
Hawke  in  the  Pi-ench  war  or  any  English  or  French  flag 
officer  in  this  war  has  been  subjected  to  such  involuntary 
renouncement  of  his  proper  authority. 

These  being  the  two  extremes  of  ancient  and  of  modern 
naval  history  without  a  precedent,  I  think  I  am  entitled  to 
consider  myself  the  subject  of  a  complete  innovation  ;  or, 
in  other  words,  the  victim  of  an  entirely  novel  plan  of 
naval  regulation. 

As  you  are  well  aware,  it  is  my  custom  to  live  up  to  the 
terms  of  papers  that  I  sign.  I  am,  at  this  writing,  unable 
to  see  that,  by  signing  this  paper,  I  have  done  less  than 
surrender  all  military  right  of  seniority,  or  that  I  have  any 
real  right  to  consider  my  flagship  anything  more  than  a 
convenient  rendezvous  where  the  captains  of  the  other 
ships  may  assemble  whenever  it  pleases  them  to  do  so,  for 
the  purpose  of  talking  things  over  and  agreeing— if  they 
can  agree-upon  a  course  of  sailing  or  a  plan  of  operations 
from  time  to  time. 

Yet,  strange  and  even  absurd  as  all  this  may  appear,  I 
was  constrained  to  sign  this  infernal  paper  by  word  from 
Dr.  Franklin,  which  though  veiled  under  the  guise  of  "ad- 
vice," came  to  me  Avith  all  the  force  of  an  order. 

You  knoAV  that  not  only  is  the  word  of  Dr.  Franklin  law 
to  me,  but  also  his  expression  or  even  intimation  of  a  wish 
is  received  by  me  as  a  command  to  be  obeyed  instantly  and 
without  inquiry  or  debate.  I  am  sure  the  Doctor  himself 
knows  this.  Therefore,  he  could  not  have  advised  me  as 
he  has  done  to  sign  this  paper  unless  he  had  reason  to  con- 
sider it  indispensable  that  I  should  do  so.  The  fact  that 
he  has  omitted  to  acquaint  me  with  his  reasons  for  so 
thinking  by  no  means  alters  my  consideration  for  his  mo- 
VoL   I.-13  177 


PAUL   JONES 

tives,  and  certainly  cannot   affect  my   obedience    to   his 
commands. 

I  am  so  sure  that  the  Doctor  always  does  the  best  he  can, 
that  I  never  annoy  him  with  inquiries.  In  this  case  as  in 
all  others,  I  have  yielded  without  question.  But  I  feel  it  is 
due  to  myself  that  some  record  of  protest  on  my  part  should 
be  made,  and,  not  wishing  to  annoy  Dr.  Franklin  with  it, 
I  hereby  file  my  protest  in  this  manner  with  you,  and 
enclose  a  true  copy  which  I  request  you  to  hand  to  Mr. 
Morris  ;  and  also,  if  I  may  so  venture,  I  request  you  to  lay 
this  letter  and  the  enclosed  copy  of  the  "Concordat"  be- 
fore General  Washington  ;  but,  of  course,  not  in  the  least 
sense  officially. 

Now,  my  friend,  having  worried  you  enough  with  my 
despairs,  I  will  try  to  cheer  you  a  little  with  my  hopes.  In 
spite  of  these  drawbacks  and  difficulties  I  can  at  last  see 
my  way  clear  to  some  kind  of  a  cruise.  I  hope  to  realize 
in  it  some  of  my  ambitions  toward  promoting  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  United  States  on  the  sea. 

The  taking  of  the  Drake,  small  as  the  ships  were,  and 
unimportant  as  the  result  was  to  the  general  operations  of 
the  war,  still  produced  a  profound  moral  effect  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe  and  alarmed  the  English  more  than  they 
have  been  alarmed  in  many  years,  if  ever.  It  at  least  taught 
the  English  and  proved  to  the  rest  of  the  world  that  a 
regular  British  man-of-war,  fully  manned,  well  handled 
and  ably  commanded,  could  be  reduced  in  one  hour,  by  a 
slightly  inferior  ship,  to  total  wreck  and  helplessness  and 
forced  to  surrender  in  order  to  save  the  lives  of  the  remnant 
of  her  crew,  in  sight  of  their  own  coast ;  and  all  this,  not 
by  desperate  boarding  or  by  accident,  but  by  simple, 
straightaway  broadsiding  at  close  rang3,  the  whole  battle 
being  fought  on  one  tack  and  without  manoeuvre. 

This  was  not  only  a  new  experience  for  the  English,  but 
it  was  also  a  new  lesson  for  the  French  and  other  nations 
of  the  European  Continent.  Yet  it  was  only  a  little  fight 
between  small  ships  and,   like  contests  of  feather-weights 

178 


ON   THE   BON   HOMME    EICHARD 

in  the  prize-ring,  settled  no  question  of  championship  at 
large. 

But  now,  with  the  force  I  have,  ill-assorted  as  it  is 
and  hampered  as  it  may  be  by  the  untoward  conditions 
I  have  already  confided  to  you,  I  can,  if  fortune  favors 
me,  fight  a  much  more  impressive  battle. 

With  this  in  view,  I  should  not  deem  it  a  misfortune 
if  I  fell  in  with  a  ship  of  the  enemy  superior  enough  in 
force  to  make  the  taking  of  her  an  event  of  more  than 
ordinary  note.  Mindful  of  all  I  have  said  and  written  to 
you  about  the  great  moral  benefit  which  would  accrue 
to  our  cause  from  a  striking  or,  maybe,  startling  naval 
success,  demonstrating  our  ability  to  cope  with  the  Eng- 
lish on  the  element  they  have  so  long  and  so  arrogantly 
ruled,  I  shall  welcome  the  approach  of  such  a  ship. 

By  all  this  you  will  understand  me  to  mean  that  I 
shall  not  only  not  shrink  from  engaging  a  superior  ship 
of  the  enemy,  in  this  cruise,  but  that  I  shall  also  not 
consider  the  getting  alongside  of  such  a  ship  otherwise 
than  fortunate.  You  know  me  too  well  to  need  assurance 
that  this  is  sincere  ;  that  it  is  not  vainglory  or  boasting  in 
advance.  All  I  hope  for  is  the  chance  ;  and  if  such  oppor- 
tunity shall  come  to  me,  rest  assured  that  I  will  improve  it 
in  a  manner  not  soon  to  be  forgotten  by  the  world  and  that 
neither  our  country  nor  the  enemy  can  ever  forget ! 

I  might  have  a  better  ship,  and  my  crew  would  be  better 
if  they  were  all  Americans.  But  I  am  truly  grateful  for 
ship  and  crew  as  they  are  ;  and,  if  I  should  fail  and  fall  I 
wish  this  writing  to  witness  that  I  take  all  blame  upon 
myself. 

This  letter  was  the  last  that  Mr.  Hewes  ever  re- 
ceived from  Paul  Jones.  The  Commodore  wrote  to 
him  one  more  letter  after  this  one,  dated  *'  The  Texel, 
October  10,  1779,"  giving  an  account  of  the  cruise ; 
but  it  did  not  reach  its  destination  until  several  days 

179 


PAUL   JONES 

after  the  death  of  Mr.  Hewes,  which  occurred  No- 
vember 10,  1779.  Nearly  all  of  Jones's  letters  in 
the  Hewes  Collection  are  annotated  by  their  recipi- 
ent, either  on  the  back  of  the  sheets  or  by  means  of 
slips  affixed  to  them.  The  comment  of  Mr.  Hewes 
upon  the  foregoing  letter  was  as  follows  : 

It  is  to  be  seen  that  he  [Captain  Jones]  considers  himself 
now  at  the  end  of  resource,  and  that  he  must  do  or  die  with 
the  weapons  in  his  hands.  I  hope  only  that  life  may  be 
spared  me  long  enough  to  know  the  ending.  I  am  sure 
from  what  he  says  at  the  end  of  his  letter  that  he  M'ill 
either  gain  a  memorable  success  or,  if  overmatched,  go  doAvn 
with  his  flag  flying  and  his  guns  firing.  To  me,  who  know 
him  better  than  any  one  else  does,  his  words  "if  I  should 
fail  and  fall  "  mean  that  he  intends  both  shall  be  if  one  is  ; 
that,  if  he  must  fail  he  is  resolved  to  fall  ;  that  he  will  not 
survive  defeat.  Knowing  him  as  I  do,  the  desperate  reso- 
lution foreshadowed  in  his  words  fills  me  in  my  present 
weak  state  Avith  the  gloomiest  feelings. 

"  At  daybreak  on  the  14th  of  August,"  says  Jones 
in  his  official  report  to  Dr.  Franklin,  "the  little 
squadron  under  my  orders  sailed  from  the  Eoad  of 
Groaix." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  cruise  of  only  four 
ships,  one  of  fort}^  guns,  one  of  thirty-six,  one  of 
twenty-eight,  and  one  of  twelve,  that  lasted  onl}'' 
fifty  days,  and  in  length  of  voyage  embraced  only 
the  circuit  of  the  British  Islands  from  west  to  east, 
north-about,  and  ending  by  anchorage  in  the  Texel, 
October  3,  1779.  In  the  history  of  naval  warfare 
thousands  of  squadron  cruises  of  equal  or  greater 
magnitude  in  the  elements  of  force,  length  of 
time,  and  distance  have  been  made.     But  no  cruise 

180 


ON   THE   BON   HOMME   RICHARD 

of  any  squadron  in  any  period  has  impressed 
the  pao-es  of  naval  histor^^  with  anything-  re- 
motely approaching-  the  romantic  glory  of  this 
one.  Other  cruises  have  been  marked  at  least  by 
discipline,  subordination,  and  zeal  of  commanders 
for  the  common  cause.  This  one,  from  beginning  to 
end,  was  distracted  by  insubordination  that  in  any 
regular  navy  would  have  been  condemned  as  mutiny 
and  punished  by  shooting  on  deck  or  hanging  at  the 
yard-arm. 

Next  to  the  flag-ship,  the  most  important  ship  of 
the  squadron  was  the  Alliance,  and  she  was  also  the 
best  and  most  effective  frigate  of  her  class  in  her 
day.  She  was  but  little  inferior  to  the  Bon  Homme 
Bichard  in  weight  of  battery  or  in  complement  of 
men  ;  and  this  slight  difference  was,  or  in  the  hands 
of  a  loyal  and  skilful  captain  would  have  been,  more 
than  made  up  by  her  vastly  superior  sailing  quali- 
ties and  facility  of  handling.  But,  as  misfortune 
would  have  it,  the  Alliance  was  commanded  by 
Pierre  Landais,  whose  conduct  from  first  to  last 
made  him  and  his  ship  a  burden  instead  of  a  help 
to  the  squadron.  No  page  in  the  naval  annals  of 
the  United  States  is  so  painful  to  write  or  so  dis- 
tressing to  read  as  the  one  on  which  the  truth 
must  be  told  about  Pierre  Landais.  And  yet  we 
are  forced  to  the  reflection  that  the  fault  was  not 
wholly  his.  It  must  be  shared  by  the  short-sighted, 
inconsiderate  men  then  in  control  of  our  naval  ad- 
ministration, who,  in  a  fit  of  mawkish  sentimen- 
tality, gave  to  Landais  an  honorable  commission 
and  a  most  important  command  in  our  infant  navy, 
apparently  without    the    slightest    survey    of    his 

181 


PAUL   JONES 

character  or  the  least  inquiry   as   to    his   antece- 
dents. 

He  happened  to  come  to  the  United  States  early 
in  1778  in  command  of  one  of  Beaumarchais's  ships 
laden  with  supplies  for  the  Continental  Army.  It 
was  at  the  time  when  the  new  alliance  with  France 
formed  the  ruling  sensation.  A  new  frigate,  the  best 
ever  built  in  this  country  up  to  that  time,  had  just 
been  completed,  and,  though  the  original  intention 
had  been  to  name  her  the  Independence,  she  was 
named  the  Alliance,  in  honor  of  the  coalition. 

Landais,  like  most  dej^raved  and  dishonest  men, 
was  cunning.  He  seized  the  opportunity  to  foist 
himself  upon  the  Marine  Committee  as  an  officer  of 
the  French  Navy,  on  leave  for  the  express  purpose 
of  commanding  the  vessel  that  had  brought  the  sup- 
j)lies.  He  was  taken  at  his  word,  commissioned  as 
captain  in  the  Continental  Navy,  and  assigned  to 
command  the  Alliance.  Had  even  pretence  of  in- 
quiry been  made,  it  would  have  developed  the  fact 
— known  only  when  too  late — that  he  was  really  an 
ex-lieutenant  of  the  French  Navy,  cashiered  several 
years  before  for  insubordination  and  refusal  or  fail- 
ure to  pay  debts  of  honor.  He  had  long  been  under 
complete  social  and  professional  ban  in  France,  not- 
withstanding his  connection  with  a  noble  family. 
He  had  been  cut  off  and  repudiated  by  his  own  rela- 
tives, and  the  reason  why  he  came  to  America  in 
command  of  a  merchant  ship  was  that  he  had  no 
other  means  of  livelihood.  All  these  facts  came  out 
later  ;  but  not  until  after  he  had  exhausted  his  power 
for  mischief  and  had  reflected  upon  our  flag  all  the 
discredit  he  possibly  could  reflect  upon  it. 


ON   THE  BOX   HOMME   RICHARD 

An  Eno-lish  naval  historian,  writing  long  after- 
ward with  all  the  facts  before  him  and  with  more 
than  the  average  candor  of  English  writers,  says : 

Paul  Jones  with  all  his  drawbacks  and  diffleulties,  suc- 
ceeded in  alarming  and  insulting  our  coasts  with  a  con- 
temptible little  squadron,  more  than  the  whole  navy  of 
fZ  e  had  been  able  to  do.     He  did  this^  in  spite  of  the 
tre-xchery  of  his  second  in  command,  Landa.s.     As   t  was, 
he  dtd  enough.    What  he  might  have  done  had  the  Alliance 
b  enin  t^handsof  such  a  second  in  command  to  Paul 
Jones  as  Collingwood  or  Troubridge  would  have  been  to 
Son  under  ifke  circumstances,  it  is  quite  unpleasant  to 
fmagine.    Renegade  though  he  was,  it  is  yet  a  satisfaction 
rretlect  that  none  but  a  British-born  seaman  cou  d  have 

done  what  he  did;  and  it  is  also  ^-*''7-°  J,^  ^f^^^d  bl 
his  hands  were  partly  tied  and  his  energies  hf  e'PP  «^  t^y 
the  incapax^ity  or  treachery  or  cowardice-or  a"  t^e   o 
gether-of  an  already  disgraced  Frenchman.     Jones  him 
Sf  if  he  viewed  the  situation  from  the  natural  standpoin 
of  a  British-born  seaman,  must  often  have  thougl^ -ha 
many  a  loyal  Briton  has  thought  before  and  since  that 
r'chmen  are  more  desirable  as  enemies  than  as  allies  at 


The  first  forty  days  of  the  fifty-day  cruise  that 
be-an  from  Isle  Groaix  at  daybreak,  the  14th  of 
August.  1779,  were  marked  by  but  few  events  worth 
description  in   detail.      The  squadron  shaped  its 
course  from  Isle  de  Groaix  west  northwest  to  clear 
the  French  coast,  and  then  northwest  to  cross  the 
mouth  of    the    English    Channel,  or  a  course  to 
weTther  Cape   Clear,  Ireland,  and  fetch  the  west 
Msh    coast  close  aboard.     The  prevailing  winds 
were  li-ht  and  baffling,  so  that  the  squadron  was 
nine  days  out  before  sighting  Cape  Clear. 


PAUL   JONES 

In  the  meantime  tlie  Richard  and  a  French  priva- 
teer in  company  recaptured  a  large  ship  belonging' 
to  Holland,  but  bound  from  Barcelona  to  Dunkirk, 
France,  which  had  been  taken  some  days  before  by 
an  English  x^rivateer  off  Cape  Ortegal  and  ordered 
into  Falmouth.  England  and  Holland  were  still  at 
peace  at  that  time,  but  the  English  claimed  the  right 
to  intercept  and  send  into  their  own  ports  for  exam- 
ination all  neutral  vessels  bound  to  French  ports,  as 
England  and  France  were  then  at  war.  Commodore 
Jones  took  the  English  prize-crew  out  of  the  Dutch 
ship  as  prisoners  of  war  and  then  ordered  the  ship 
into  r Orient  in  charge  of  her  own  crew,  but  placed 
one  of  his  midshipmen  on  board  with  six  men  to 
represent  possession  until  she  could  come  under  the 
protection  of  a  French  port. 

During  the  afternoon  of  August  21st  the  Pallas 
brought  to  and  captured  the  Maj^flower,  brigantine, 
bound  from  Limerick  to  Loudon,  laden  with  dairy 
products  and  salt  meat  and  fish.  This  vessel,  being 
British,  was  sent  into  I'Orient  as  an  ordinar}^  prize, 
with  a  prize-crew  of  two  warrant  officers  and  seven 
men. 

In  the  forenoon  of  August  23d,  Cape  Clear  bearing 
east  northeast  by  east,  in  sight  from  the  masthead 
and  the  weather  dead  calm,  the  Bichard  sent  thrco 
boats  and  afterward  a  fourth  to  take  a  brig  that  was 
also  becalmed  in  the  northwest  quarter  out  of  gun- 
shot. This  brig  proved  to  be  the  Fortune,  of  Bris- 
tol, bound  from  Newfoundland  for  her  home-port 
with  whale-oil,  salt  fish,  and  barrel-staves.  She  was 
manned  by  a  prize-crew  of  two  warrant  officers  and 
six  men,  and  sent  into  Nantes. 

184 


Ox\   THE   BON   HOMME   KICHARD 

The  same  day,  while  the  boats  above  mentioned 
were  absent  from  the  Richard,  Commodore  Jones 
found  it  necessary  to  tow  the  head  of  the  ship  a 
quarter  round  to  get  her  head  to  the  tide,  and  as  no 
wind  sprung  up,  the  tow  had  to  be  kept  to  prevent 
her  from  drifting  on  the  Skallocks  reef.     The  boat 
sent  ahead  to  tow  was  the  Commodore's  barge,  and 
it  was  manned  principally  by  English  sailors,  the 
only  Americans  in  her  being  Midshipman  Watt,  and 
one   quartermaster  as  coxswain.     About  sundown 
the  English  crew  overpowered  the  two  Americans, 
cut  the"tow-line  and  pulled  for  the  shore.     As  soon 
as  their  intention  was  discovered  several  nine-pound 
shots  were  fired  at  them  from  the  quarter-deck  guns. 
and  Mr.  Cutting  Lunt,  second  lieutenant  or  master 
(navio-ating  officer),  lowered  away   one  of  the  two 
remahiing  boats  of  the  Eichard,  with  six  seamen 
and  four  marines,  and  gave  chase.     The  deserters, 
however,  escaped  with  the  barge  and  got   ashore, 
and  Mr.  Lunt,  with  his  boat,  pursued  them  so  close 
in  that  he,  too,  was  captured  with  his  ten  men.* 

*Paul  Jones  was  as  original  in  his  ideas  of  shipboard  discipline  as 
in  his  modes  of  fighting.  In  both  alike  he  was,  in  his  own  conception, 
the  -  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King."  He  had  no  fixed  rules,  either  of  dis- 
cipline or  of  battle.  He  simply  accepted  every  situation  as  it  struck 
him,  and  depended  on  himself  every  time  for  the  outcome.  On  this 
point  Henry  Gardner  says :  .  ,        ,  -d     i 

- 1  sailed,  in  my  time,  with  many  captains ;  but  with  only  one  Pan 
Jones.  He  was  the  captain  of  captains.  Any  other  commander  1  sailed 
with  had  some  kind  of  method  or  fixed  rule  which  he  exerted  towards 
aU  those  under  him  alike.  It  suited  some  and  others  not ;  but  it  was 
the  same  rule  all  the  time  and  to  everybody.  Not  so  Paul  Jones.  He 
always  knew  every  officer  or  man  in  his  crew  as  one  friend  knows  another 
Those  big  black  eyes  of  his  would  look  right  through  a  new  man  at  first 
Bic^ht  and,  maybe,  see  something  behind  him!  At  any  rate,  he  knew 
every  man  and  always  dealt  with  each  according  to  his  notion.    I  have 

18.J 


PAUL   JO^N^ES 

This  was  a  loss  of  two  boats  and  twenty-three 
officers  and  men — twelve  in  the  barge  and  eleven 
in  Mr.  Lunt's  boat — and  there  was  no  better  officer 
in  the  ship  than  Mr.  Lunt.  Jones,  in  his  report  of 
the  cruise  to  Dr.  Franklin,  says  that  Mr.  Lunt 
acted  without  orders,  though  he  commends  his  zeal. 
Thus,  during  the  first  ten  days  of  the  cruise  the 
complement  of  the  Eichard  had  been  reduced  by 
thirty-nine,  of  whom  one  was  the  third  officer  in  the 
ship,  whose  loss  could  not  easily  be  made  good. 

The  calm  continued  until  sundown  of  the  24th, 
when  Commodore  Jones,  believing  that  it  would 
thicken  up  and  blov/  hard  before  morning,  and 
therefore  desiring  to  Avork  farther  off  the  coast, 
hauled  to  the  northwest  and  stood  out  to  sea.     The 

seen  him  one  hour  teaching  the  French  language  to  his  midshipmen  and 
the  next  hour  showing  an  apprentice  how  to  knot  a  '  Turk's-head '  or 
make  a  neat  coil-down  of  a  painter.  He  was  in  everybody's  watch  and 
everybody's  mess  all  the  time.  In  fact,  I  may  say  that  any  ship  Paul 
Jones  commanded  was  full  of  him,  himself,  all  the  time.  The  men  used 
to  get  crazy  about  him  when  he  was  with  them  and  talking  to  them.  It 
was  only  when  his  back  was  turned  that  anyone  could  wean  them  away 
from  him.  If  you  heard  peals  of  laughter  from  the  forecastle,  it  was 
likely  that  he  was  there  spinning  funny  yarns  for  Jack  oflf  watch.  If 
you  heard  a  roar  of  merriment  at  the  cabin-table,  it  was  likely  that  his 
never-failing  wit  had  overwhelmed  the  officers'  mess. 

"  He  was  very  strict.  I  have  seen  him  sternly  reprove  a  young  sailor, 
who  approached  him,  for  what  he  called  '  a  lubber's  walk  ; '  say  to  him, 
'  See  here,  this  is  the  way  to  walk.'  And  then,  after  putting  the  nov- 
ice through  his  paces  two  or  three  times,  he  would  say  to  him  :  '  Ah, 
that's  better !  You'll  be  a  blue-water  sailor  before  you  know  it,  my 
boy  ! '  And  then  he  would  give  the  shipmate  a  guinea  out  of  his  own 
pocket. 

*'  Above  all  things  he  hated  the  cat-o'-nine-tails.  In  two  of  his  ships — 
the  Providence  and  the  Hanger — he  threw  it  overboard  the  lirst  day  out. 
There  was  one  in  the  Alfred  that  he  never  allowed  to  be  used,  and  two 
in  the  Richard  that  were  never  used  but  twice.  He  consented  to  tiog 
the  lookout  forward  when  tlie  Richard  fouled  the  Alliance  the  second 

lb6 


ON   THE   BON    HOMME    RICHARD 

wind  continued  to  freshen  until  the  afternoon  of 
August  26th,  when  it  blew  a  gale  from  the  southwest, 
and  the  squadron  ran  to  the  northeast  by  north 
under  stormsails.  In  the  morning  of  August  31st 
the  west  coast  of  the  Hebrides  was  brought  abeam. 
The  gale  then  began  to  abate  and  the  wind  hauled 
to  the  west  northwest,  and  on  September  1st,  about 
10  A.M.,  Cape  Wrath,  the  northwest  promontory  of 
Scotland,  was  sighted.  At  the  same  time  two  large 
ships  hove  in  sight  in  the  northwest  quarter,  and 
another  large  ship  appeared  to  windward,  evidently 
beating  on  a  westerly  course.  Jones  then  bore  up 
until  he  made  out  the  first  two  ships  to  be  the  Alli- 
ance and  a  prize  she  had  taken  about  daylight,  a 
vessel  bound  for  Jamaica  from  London,  north-about. 

day  out  from  1' Orient ;  and  also  he  allowed  old  Jack  Robinson  to  per- 
suade him  that  two  foretop-men  ought  to  be  whipped  for  laying  from 
aloft  without  orders  when  the  squall  struck  us  in  the  Richard  off  Leith. 
But  when  he  consented  to  this  he  strictly  enjoined  upon  old  Jack  that 
the  men  must  be  flogged  with  their  shirts  on,  which,  of  course,  made  a 
farce  of  the  whole  proceeding.  He  said  at  this  time  :  '  I  have  no  use  for 
the  cat.  Whenever  a  sailor  of  mine  gets  vicious  beyond  my  persuasion 
or  control  the  cheapest  thing  in  the  long  run  is  to  kill  him  right  away. 
If  you  do  that  the  others  will  understand  it.  But  if  you  trice  him  up 
and  flog  him,  all  the  other  bad  fellows  in  the  ship  will  sympathize  with 
him  and  hate  you.' 

"  All  the  men  undc  his  command  soon  learned  this  trait  in  his  char- 
acter. One  Sunday  when  we  were  off  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  just  after 
we  had  lost  the  barge  and  Mr.  Lunt,  he  addressed  the  crew  on  the  subject 
of  discipline.  He  told  them  that,  many  years  before,  when  he  was  a  boy 
in  the  merchant-service,  he  had  seen  a  man  '  flogged  round  the  fleet ' 
at  Port  Royal,  Jamaica.  He  said  the  man  died  under  the  lash  ;  and  he 
then  made  up  his  mind  that  Paul  Jones  and  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  would 
part  company.  '  I  tell  you,  my  men,'  he  said,  '  once  for  all,  that  when  I 
become  convinced  that  a  sailor  of  mine  must  be  killed,  I  will  not  leave  it 
to  be  done  by  boatswain's  mates  under  slow  torture  of  the  lash  !  But  I 

will  do  it  myself — and  so  G d quick  that  it  will  make  your  heads 

swim  I  '  " 

187 


PAUL   JONES 

Having  ascertaiued  this,  he  hauled  up  with  the 
Eichard  in  chase  of  the  ship  beating-  to  westward, 
and  overhauled  her  about  noon.  She  was  armed 
and  did  not  surrender  until  after  exchange  of  several 
shots,  when  the  Richard  had  weathered  her  suf- 
ficiently to  show  her  a  broadside,  which  occurred 
about  noon,  September  1st. 

When  hove-to  and  taken  possession  of,  this  prize 
proved  to  be  the  Britisli  letter-of-marque  Union, 
mounting  twenty-two  six-pounders,  bound  north- 
about  from  London  for  Quebec,  and  laden  with  a 
cargo  of  naval  and  military  stores  for  the  British 
forces  in  Canada  and  their  flotillas  on  the  Lakes. 
The  Union  carried  a  valuable  mail,  including  de- 
spatches from  the  British  Government  for  Sir  Guy 
Carleton  in  Canada,  and  also  duplicate  despatches 
for  Sir  William  Howe  at  New  York.  "  These  public 
dispatches,"  says  Jones  in  his  report  to  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, "  were  lost,  as  the  Alliance  imprudently  showed 
American  colors,  though  English  colors  were  still 
flying  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard ;  the  enemy 
thereby  being  induced  to  throw  his  papers  of  im- 
portance overboard  before  we  could  take  possession 
of  him." 

These  two  prizes  v/ere  manned  from  the  Alliance 
and  the  prisoners  taken  in  them  were  put  aboard  the 
Piichard.  Jones  adopted  this  course  for  three  rea- 
sons :  first,  because  he  wished  to  keep  control  of  all 
prisoners  taken  ;  second,  because  his  own  crew  had 
already  been  depleted  to  the  extent  of  thirty -nine, 
and,  third,  because  at  that  time  and  under  those  cir- 
cumstances he  was  willing — or  at  least  constrained 
himself — to  yield  almost  anything  to  the  pretensions 

188 


ON   THE  BON   HOMME   RICHARD 

of  Landais  rather  than  precipitate  an  issue  with  him 
at  sea  in  the  middle  of  a  cruise.  He  therefore 
allowed  Landais  to  man  the  two  prizes,  directed  him 
to  keep  them  under  his  lee  until  after  dark,  and  then 
ordered  that  they  make  the  best  of  their  way  to 
rOrient  or  Brest.  As  soon  as  night  came  on,  how- 
ever, Landais  ordered  the  two  prizes  to  run  through 
Pentland  Channel  eastward  and  put  into  Bergen,  in 
Korway,  which  they  did.* 

*  Under  ordinary  circumstances  Bergen  would  have  been  the  best  port 
to  which  to  consign  these  prizes,  because  it  was  the  most  accessible  and 
nearest  neutral  port,  and  the  route  to  it  was  least  liable  to  the  nsk  of 
recapture.  Jones  would  himself  have  ordered  them  there  but  for  the 
fact  which  he  knew,  whether  Landais  did  or  not,  that  they  would  be 
restored  to  the  British  as  soon  as  they  arrived  there.  Norway  was  .hen 
part  of  the  Kingdom  of  Denmark,  and  the  Danish  King  was  wholly 
under  the  influence  of  England. 

The  moment  they  arrived  at  Bergen  the  British  consul  there  demanded 
that  they  be  given  up  to  him.  The  United  States  had  no  representative 
at  Ber-en  •  but  the  French  consul  there,  M.  Duchezaulx,  attempted  to 
protect  our  interests  and  entered  a  protest  against  the  suiTender  of  the 
prizes.  The  question  was  then  referred  to  the  King  of  Denmark,  who 
decided  that  they  must  be  restored  to  Great  Britain  "  because  they  had 
not  been  captured  by  the  forces  of  a  power  recognized  by  Denmark  aa 

sovereign."  ^      ,  i  xi      a 

This  decision  reached  Bergen  on  the  12th  of  October,  and  the  two 
prizes,  together  with  a  third  that  had  arrived  two  weeks  later,  were 
turned  over  to  the  British  consul.  M.  Duchezaulx,  in  his  official  report 
of  the  aflfair,  described  the  ships  and  their  cargoes,  and  valued  the  three 

at  £50,000.  ,,     ,    ^^     __  . 

Excepting  the  Hellish,  taken  by  Jones  in  the  Alfred,  the  Union  was 

the  most  valuable  prize  captured  by  our  navy  during  the  Revolution. 
She  was  a  new  ship,  and  Jones's  intention  was,  if  she  could  reach  a 
French  port,  to  convert  her  into  a  sloop-of-war,  for  which  she  was  well 
adapted.  She  had  on  board  a  crew  of  sixty-eight  officers  and  men,  among 
whom  were  four  American  sailors  who  had  been  released  from  prison  m 
England  on  condition  of  shipping  in  this  vessel.  These  were  enrolled 
for  service  in  the  Richard.  The  other  vessel  was  also  a  letter-of-marque 
the  Betsey,  of  London,  with  a  cargo  of  flour,  salt  beef  and  pork,  and 
other  provisions  for  the  supply  of  the  British  Army  in  New  York,  and  a 

189 


PAUL   JONES 

From  the  3d  to  the  16th  of  September  the  squad- 
ron worked  slowly  down  the  east  coast  of  Scotland, 
with  no  incident  of  note  beyond  the  capture  of  five 
or  six  small  prizes.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th  the 
squadron  was  off  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and  Jones  deter- 
mined to  attack  the  port  of  Leith,  which  he  had  as- 
certained was  defended  only  by  a  small  g-uardship 
of  twenty-two  guns  and  an  old  fortification  (old 
Leith  Fort)  garrisoned  by  a  detachment  of  militia. 
In  this  enterprise  he  was  seconded  only  by  Captains 
Cottineau  and  Ricot,  in  the  Pallas  and  Vengeance, 
Landais,  with  his  usual  contemptuous  insubordina- 
tion, having  disregarded  the  signals  of  the  flag-ship 
and  stood  out  to  sea. 

The  wind  during  the  16th  and  17th  of  September 
was  adverse,  blowing  off  shore,  with  frequent  heavy 
squalls,  but  about  noon  on  the  17th  the  Richard  and 
Pallas  had  beat  up  within  gunshot  of  Leith  Fort 
and  were  lowering  away  their  boats  to  land  when  a 
heavy  northwest  gale  sprung  up,  compelling  them 
to  hoist  in  their  boats,  and  ultimately  driving  them 
out  to  sea  during  the  afternoon.  The  gale  lasted 
about  twenty-four  hours,  but  on  the  morning  of  the 
19th  the  wind  took  a  favorable  turn,  and  Commodore 

considerable  quantity  of  merchandise  consigned  to  Jamaica.  She  had  on 
board  a  orew  of  forty-six  all  told,  so  that,  with  those  taken  in  previous 
prizes,  the  Richard  now  had  on  board  about  one  hundred  and  forty  Eng- 
lish prisoners  of  war.  Although  the  despatches  the  Union  carried  had 
been  thrown  overboard,  Jones  learned  from  the  gossip  of  the  prisoners 
that  the  seven  gun-boats  building  at  Quebec,  for  which  the  Union  was 
taking  out  equipment  supplies,  were  intended  for  use  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain  in  an  expedition  that  Sir  Guy  Carleton  had  planned  for  the  spring 
of  1780,  on  much  the  same  lines  as  Burgoyne's  invasion  of  1777.  It  is 
probable  that  the  delay  in  receiving  these  stores  resulting  from  the 
capture  had  much  to  do  with  the  abandonment  of  that  expedition. 

190 


ON   THE   BON    HOMME    RICHARD 

Jones  proposed  to  renew  the  attack  on  Leith.  The 
Alliance  being  still  absent,  he  called  Captain  Cot- 
tineau,  of  the  Pallas,  on  board  the  flag--ship  to  com- 
municate the  plan  to  him  in  person.  Cottineau,  while 
assuring-  the  Commodore  that  he  would  sup^Dort  him, 
argued  that  the  real  opportunity  was  now  lost ;  that 
the  alarm  had  been  given  by  the  attempt  of  the 
17th,  and  therefore  they  could  not  hope  to  find  Leith 
unprepared  after  two  days  in  which  to  get  ready. 
Besides,  they  must  assume  that  the  news  of  their 
presence  on  the  coast  would  have  been  transmitted 
by  semaphore  (the  telegraph  of  those  days)  to  Lon- 
don, and  they  might,  therefore,  expect  the  imme- 
diate despatch  of  a  strong  naval  force  from  the 
Downs  or  from  Yarmouth  up  the  coast  in  search  of 
them. 

*'  Having  already  assured  you  that  I  will  stand  by 
you  in  any  event.  Commodore,"  said  the  gallant, 
though  prudent,  Cottineau,  "  I  now  feel  at  liberty  to 
offer  for  your  consideration  my  judgment  that  if  we 
persist  in  this  attempt  and  stay  on  this  station  three 
days  longer,  we  shall  have  a  squadron  of  heavy  frig- 
ates, if  not  a  ship  or  two  of  the  line,  to  deal  with. 
Convinced  to  this  effect,  I  offer  it  as  my  judgment 
that  we  had  better  work  along  the  coast  to-day  and 
to-morrow  as  far  south  as  Spurn  Head,  and  then,  if 
we  do  not  fall  in  with  the  Baltic  merchant  fleet, 
stand  off  the  coast  and  make  the  best  of  our  way 
to  Dunkirk." 

Commodore  Jones  had  a  warm  personal  regard 
for  Captain  Cottineau,  and  also  a  high  opinion  of 
his  professional  skill  and  judgment.  After  a  few 
minutes'  reflection  he   said  :     "  You   are    probably 

191 


PAUL   JONES 

rig-lit,  Cottineau,  in  your  estimate  of  the  situation. 
I  only  wish  that  another  man  like  you  wore  in  com- 
mand of  the  Alliance.  However,  we  cannot  help 
what  is  and  must  make  the  best  of  it.  Go  aboard 
your  ship  and  make  sail  to  the  south  southeast. 
Speak  the  Vengeance  as  you  run  down,  and  tell 
Ricot  to  rendezvous  off  Spurn  Head.  I  will  bring 
up  the  rear  with  this  ship.  We  may  fall  in  with 
the  Baltic  fleet  between  here  and  Scarboro',  which 
is  usually  their  first  English  port  of  destination  at 
this  time  of  year.  Should  you  happen  to  sight  the 
Alliance,  inform  Captain  Landais  of  our  destination, 
but  do  not  communicate  it  to  him  as  an  order,  be- 
cause that  w'ould  be  likely  to  expose  you  only  to 
insult." 

The  next  three  days  were  without  event  of  note. 
On  the  21st  of  September  the  Richard  and  the  Pallas 
rendezvoused  off  Spurn  Head,  just  in  sight  of  land, 
and  Captain  Cottineau  reported  to  the  Commodore 
that  he  had  exchanged  signals  with  the  Alliance  the 
previous  evening  off  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne,  but  that 
Landais  had  given  him  no  intimation  of  what  he  in- 
tended to  do,  simply  exchanging  numbers  and  then 
standing  out  to  sea.  On  the  22d,  Jones,  who  was 
closer  inshore  than  the  Pallas,  informed  Cottineau 
that  there  was  a  considerable  fleet  of  merchant  ves- 
sels in  convoy  of  a  frigate  anchored  under  the  lee  of 
Spurn  Head,  in  the  mouth  of  the  Humber,  and  he 
believed  they  were  colliers  bound  for  London  from 
Newcastle,  and  waiting  for  a  shift  of  the  wdnd 
which  was  then  southerly  and  easterly,  or  dead  ahead 
for  the  course  they  were  bound  upon.  During  that 
day,  and  before  he  could  communicate  with  Cotti- 

102 


ON   THE   BON    HOMME    RICHARD 

neau,  Jones  had  taken   and  sunk  one  collier  and 
chased  another  ashore. 

Jones  was  meditating  an  attack  at  daylight  the 
next  morning-  on  the  coal  fleet  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Humber,  when,  just  before  dark  on  the  22d,  the  little 
Vengeance  ran  under  his  lee  and  informed  him  that 
the  Baltic  fleet  had  reached  the  English  coast  that 
forenoon,  from  the  Cattegat,  under  convoy,  and  had 
put  into  Bridlington  Bay  to  await  a  shift  of  the 
southerly  wind,  then  prevailing,  to  the  westward  or 
northward  to  give  them  a  fair  slant  for  the  Downs. 

When  Jones  received  this  information  he  was 
directly  off  Spurn  Head  to  the  eastward  about  hull 
down  from  the  land,  the  Pallas  close  aboard,  the 
Alliance  hull  down  to  the  southward  and  eastward. 
Perceiving  instantly  that  the  opportunity  of  his 
lifetime  was  now  before  him,  he  ordered  Captain 
Ricot  in  the  little  Vengeance  to  stand  out  to  sea  and 
inform  Landais  in  the  Alliance  that  the  next  rendez- 
vous of  the  squadron  would  be  Flamboro'  Head,  and 
then  laid  the  Richard's  head  north-northeast,  sig- 
nalling Cottineau  in  the  Pallas  to  follow  him  on  his 
starboard  quarter,  not  getting  out  of  sight  from  the 
main-top. 

The  distance  from  Spurn  Head  to  Flamboro'  is 
about  forty  miles  as  the  bird  flies  ;  but  Jones  did 
not  wish  to  run  straight  up  the  coast,  for  fear  of  being 
discovered,  and  as  the  wind  still  held  southerly  he 
and  the  Pallas  ran  off  before  it  northeast,  away  from 
the  land,  and  out  of  sight  of  it,  until  the  log  showed 
that  they  had  fairly  northed  the  promontory  of 
Flamboro'.  They  then  hove-to  before  daylight  and 
awaited  developments. 

Vol.  I— 13  193 


PAUL   JONES 

It  appears  that  Jones  and  Cottinean  nortlied 
Flamboro'  more  than  thej^  intended  during-  the  night, 
because,  when  the  fog  scaled  up  about  sunrise  on  the 
23d  of  September,  neither  the  land  nor  the  Ven- 
geance nor  the  Alliance  was  in  sight.  Meantime  the 
wind,  which  was  very  light,  had  hauled  to  the  south- 
west, which  made  it  a  dead  beat  for  them  to  get  in 
with  the  land  again.  They  consumed  the  better  part 
of  the  forenoon  of  the  23d  beating  up  for  Bridling- 
ton Bay,  and  in  doing  so  they  both  made  such  lee- 
way that  they  brought  Flamboro'  on  the  port  beam 
with  their  last  tack  inshore,  instead  of  on  the  star- 
board beam  as  they  had  intended.  To  correct  this 
and  get  to  windward  of  Flamboro'  they  wore  ofif 
shore  again  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
They  had  hardly  got  sea-room  enough  to  haul  up 
for  the  land  on  the  starboard  tack,  when  the  whole 
Baltic  fleet  appeared  running  out  of  Bridlington 
Bay,  steering  north-northeast,  before  the  wind,  be- 
tween them  and  the  coast,  and  evidently  making  for 
Scarboro'  or  Tyne  mouth  for  shelter  and  defence. 

At  this  time  the  Eichard  and  the  Pallas  were  about 
ten  or  twelve  miles  off  the  land,  the  wind  southwest 
and  very  light,  hardly  more  than  enough  to  make 
steering-way.  The  Baltic  ships,  however,  had  the 
strength  of  the  land  breeze  and  ran  off  free  wdth  it, 
making  for  Scarboro'.  Their  convoy  brought  up  the 
rear,  standing  bold  out  to  sea  toward  the  Eichard 
and  the  Pallas,  with  the  evident  intention  of  getting 
and  keeping  between  the  merchant  ships  and  the 
strangers. 

Jones  now  saw  that  unless  the  wind  changed  and 
got  fresher  he  would  have  no  chance  whatever  at  the 

194 


ON   THE   BON   HOMME    EICHAED 

merchant  ships,  which  were  sure  to  get  shelter  in 
Scarboro'  or  farther  north  before  he  could  reach 
them.  At  the  same  time  he  saw  that  the  convoy  was 
a  heavy  ship -of -war,  either  a  fifty-gun  ship  or  a 
forty-four,  with  a  large  sloop-of-war  in  company. 
He  also  saw  that  the  captain  of  the  larger  ship  in 
convoy  had  cleverly  manoeuvred  to  protect  his  mer- 
chant ships,  leaving  him  nothing  to  do  but  sheer  off 
or  fight. 

Just  before  hauling  in  for  the  land  Jones  had  de- 
coyed a  pilot-boat  alongside  and  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  her,  placing  Lieutenant  Henry  Lunt  with 
fourteen  sailors  and  marines  in  charge  of  her,  and 
had  ordered  them  to  bring  to  a  collier  in  the  south- 
east quarter.  But  as  soon  as  he  made  out  the  force 
of  the  enemy  he  signalled  Lunt  to  abandon  the  pilot- 
boat  and  return  aboard  the  Eichard.  The  wind  was 
so  light  that  Lunt  could  not  at  once  comply  with  this 
order,  being  to  leeward,  and,  as  the  wind  was  off  the 
land,  it  became  lighter  with  distance.*    Commodore 

*  Captain  Mahan,  in  his  "John  Paul  Jones  in  the  Revolution  "  {Scrih- 
ner's  Magazine  for  August,  1898),  severely  censures  Henry  Lunt  for  his 
failure  to  pull  aboard  the  Richard  at  once  after  leaving  the  pilot-boat. 
With  all  due  respect  to  the  author  as  an  authority  on  naval  topics,  we 
venture  to  suggest  that  Captain  Mahan's  verdict  against  Henry  Lunt  is 
too  harsh.  The  deck-officer  "  sent  away  that  morning  had,  to  his  dis- 
credit, failed  to  return,"  says  Captain  Mahan  ;  clearly  referring  to  Lunt. 
When  Jones  opened  on  Pearson  with  the  Richard's  broadside  it  was  al- 
ready dark.  Lunt  was  in  an  open  boat,  to  leeward,  and  had  a  knot-and- 
a-half  to  two  knots  set  of  tidal  current  against  him.  Pulling  toward  the 
scene  of  battle,  he  ran  up  to  and  spoke  the  little  Vengeance.  Captain 
Ricot,  of  that  brig,  says  that  he  advised  Lunt  to  pull  for  the  Richard, 
regardless  of  the  melee.  Lunt  says  that  Ricot  advised  him  to  keep  out 
of  it.  Before  Lunt  reached  hail  o£  Ricot,  Jones  had  signalled  to  the  lat- 
ter :  "  Lie  to,  as  you  are  ;  you  are  not  big  enough  to  bear  a  hand  in  this." 

By  the  time  Lunt  got  near  enough  in  his  boat  to  see  by  the  dim  moon- 

195 


PAUL   JONES 

Jones  then  seeing  that  the  enemy's  large  ship  was 
holding  aback  for  him,  while  the  sloop-of-war  was 
reaching  to  leeward  to  cover  the  Hank  of  the  con- 
voy, requested  Captain  Cottineau  to  give  his  atten- 
tion to  the  latter,  and  hauled  up  the  Richard  to 
get,  if  possible,  between  the  land  and  the  larger 
ship. 

Owing  to  the  lightness  of  the  wind  this  was  a 

light  what  was  doing,  the  Richard  and  the  Serapia  had  locked  teeth  in 
their  murderous  rough-and-tumble  fight.  At  his  distance  and  in  the 
night  Lunt  could  not  tell  friend  from  foe  ;  he  could  not  see  which  ship 
to  pull  for.  Paul  Jones  ought  to  be  considered  a  fair  witness  on  this 
point.  He  says  (Page  165,  Sherburne  Collection),  by  way  of  comment 
on  Lunt's  testimony  in  the  Landais  case  : 

"  This  certificate  of  Lieutenant  Lunt,  who  was  a  mere  spectator,  is  of 
great  weight  and  importance,  it  being  only  in  the  power  of  this  gentle- 
man or  of  Captain  Ricot,  who,  in  the  Vengeance,  was  also  a  mere  spec- 
tator, to  give  a  true  account  of  the  respective  positions  and  manoeuvres 
of  the  ships  engaged. " 

As  it  was,  Lunt  got  close  aboard  in  his  boat  quite  a  while  before  the 
Scrapie  struck.  Reference  to  Richard  Dale's  narrative  will  show  that 
Lunt  boarded  the  Serapis  on  the  off  side  from  the  Richard  within  five  or 
six  minutes  after  the  firing  ceased.  It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  board  a  ship 
from  a  boat  at  sea  when  the  ship  is  hove-to  and  at  peace.  We  have  yet 
to  read  or  hear  of  an  instance  where  anyone  has  boarded  a  ship  from  a 
boat  at  sea  when  the  ship  was  fighting  ;  least  of  all,  when  fighting  as 
the  Richard  fought  then. 

In  the  remark  of  Jones  already  quoted,  there  is  no  sign  of  displensure  ; 
no  tone  of  criticism.  It  may  be  safely  assumed  that,  if  Jones  had  as- 
cribed Lunt's  prudence  to  lack  of  courage,  history  would  have  heard 
from  him  on  the  subject ;  because  the  one  crime  in(lefen3il)le  and  uufor- 
giveable  in  his  calendar  was  cowardice.  Moreover,  not  a  month  later,  as 
will  appear  farther  on,  he  gave  to  Lunt  charge  of  an  affair  in  which  he 
(Jones)  was  the  challenged  party.  It  is,  we  think,  impossible  to  suppose 
that  Paul  Jones  would  select  for  his  second  in  a  probable  duel  a  man 
whose  previous  conduct  in  battle  bad  been  "discreditable."  When  it 
became  necessary  to  make  a  show  of  force  to  suppress  an  incipient  mu- 
tiny in  the  Alliance,  at  the  Texel,  Jones  used  Lunt  as  commander  of  the 
repressive  detachment  from  the  Richard's  old  crew.  Beyond  this,  the 
two  men  were  bosom  friends  until  death  separated  them. 

100 


ON   THE   BON    HOMME    RICHARD 

slow  manoeuvre,  requiring  several  tacks  with  little 
more  than  steering-way,  and  the  whole  afternoon 
was  consumed  in  these  evolutions.  The  enemy's 
ships,  however,  seemed  more  intent  on  protecting 
their  convoy  than  on  manoeuvring  for  position, 
and  so  about  sundo^vn  Jones  succeeded  in  weather- 
ing the  large  shijD  and  got  between  her  and  the 
land. 

It  was  now  about  7  P.M.,  the  day  being  Thursday, 
September  28, 1779,  but  there  was  a  full  moon,  and  in 
the  long  tv/ilight  of  that  latitude  the  obscurit}^  was 
not  serious.  As  the  ships  neared  each  other  on  op- 
posite tacks,  Jones  had  no  difficulty  in  making  out 
the  force  and  rate  of  his  antagonist.  He  had  in  his 
possession  a  complete  list  of  the  British  Navy,  giving 
the  rate,  dimensions,  rig,  and  armament  of  every  ship, 
from  sloops-of-war  up.  He  saw  that  the  approach- 
ing enemy  was  a  small  two-decker ;  but  she  was  not 
yet  near  enough  to  make  out  whether  she  was  a 
lifty-gun  ship  of  the  older  type,  called  the  Romney 
class,  or  one  of  the  new  forty-fours  of  the  Eain- 
bow  class,  several  of  which  had  recently  been  built. 
This  uncertainty,  however,  was  of  little  moment,  as 
the  older  fifties  were  no  more  powerful  than  the  new 
forty-fours ;  but  he  knew  that  either  rate  was  su- 
perior in  weight  of  metal  to  the  Eichard  as  three  is 
to  two,  and  he  knew  also  that  the  crew  of  the  enemy 
was  at  least  equal  to  his  own  in  number  and  vastly 
superior  in  discipline,  training,  and  national  homo- 
geneity. However,  he  welcomed  her  approach  and 
bent  all  his  skill  to  the  purpose  of  getting  between 
her  and  the  land,  for  the  double  purpose  of  gaining 
the  weather-gage  and  preventing  her  from  running 

197 


PAUL   JONES 

into  Scarboro'  Harbor  and  under  the  guns  of  tlie 
castle,  which  he  at  first  feared  she  might  attempt  to 
do  as  soon  as  she  saw  that  her  convoy  was  safe.  In 
the  meantime  the  Pallas  was  running  otf  to  leeward 
in  chase  of  the  enemy's  smaller  man-of-war,  and  the 
Alliance,  which  had  disregarded  the  signal  to  bear 
up  and  form  line  with  the  Richard,  remained  astern 
under  her  topsails,  half  hull  down. 

Turning  now,  for  a  moment,  to  the  British  ship, 
we  find  that  she  was  the  newest  of  the  forty -fours 
before  mentioned ;  only  six  months  off  the  stocks, 
and  on  her  first  cruise  as  convoy  to  the  Baltic  fleet. 
This  fleet  consisted  of  forty  or  forty-one  vessels  in- 
bound from  the  Baltic,  and  almost  wholly  laden  with 
timber  and  other  naval  stores  for  the  use  of  the 
British  dockyards.  Even  at  that  early  period  the 
forests  of  England  had  ceased  to  furnish  a  sufficient 
supply  of  ship  timber,  and  the  deficiency  had  to  be 
made  up  by  large  importations  from  Dantzic  and 
Sweden.  Destruction  or  serious  damage  to  this  fleet 
would  directly  affect  the  British  Navy,  and  Jones 
had  hoped  for  opportunity  to  attack  it.  But  his 
plan  had  been  frustrated,  partly  by  the  vigilance  and 
skill  of  the  commander  of  the  men-of-war  in  convoy, 
and  partly  by  the  treachery  and  cowardice  of  the 
wretched  Landais,  who  deliberately  let  pass  the  per- 
fect opportunity  offered  him  of  getting  among  the 
fleeing  merchantmen  with  the  fast-sailing  Alliance 
before  they  could  reach  the  shelter  of  Scarboro',  and 
while  Jones  in  the  Bichard  and  Cottineau  in  the 
Pallas  were  occupying  the  attention  of  the  two  men- 
of-war  in  convoy. 

The  British  ship  was  the  Serapis,  forty-four,  Cap- 

11)8 


ON    THE   BON    HOMME    RICHAED 

tain  Richard  Pearson.  She  carried  twenty  long 
eig"hteen-pounders  in  her  lower  tier,  twenty-two  long 
nine-pounders  in  her  ui3per  tier,  and  eight  nine- 
pounders  on  her  quarter-deck,  throwing  three  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  pounds  of  metal  in  full  broadside. 
Her  dimensions  were  as  follows  : 

Length  on  main  gun-deck 148  feet 

Length  of  keel  for  tonnage 123^   ' ' 

Extreme  breadth 39f    *' 

Depth  of  hold 17^    ** 

Burthen  (B.  O.  M.) 986  tons 

Her  complement,  all  told,  was  three  hundred  and 
thirty-two  officers,  seamen,  and  marines,  but  of  these, 
Captain  Pearson  stated  in  his  testimony  before  the 
court-martial,  seven  were  non-combatants  and  eight 
on  the  sick-list  at  the  time  of  the  action,  leaving 
three  hundred  and  seventeen  effective  men  of  all 
ranks. 

Two  interesting  accounts  are  extant  of  the  scenes 
on  board  the  Serapis  while  the  two  ships  were  ap- 
proaching for  battle.  One  was  written  by  the  first 
lieutenant,  John  Brenton  Wright,  and  published  in 
a  London  magazine  in  1781 ;  the  other  by  Dr.  Will- 
iam Bannatyne,  the  ship's  surgeon,  and  published  in 
the  Navy  Chronicle  twenty  years  afterward. 

Lieutenant  Brenton  Wright  says  : 

As  the  stranger  approached,  Captain  Pearson  showed 
some  impatience  at  his  inability  to  make  out  her  rate. 
From  her  height  out  of  water  and  the  size  of  her  spars  he 
thought  she  might  be  a  French  fifty  of  the  time  of  the  last 
war,  but  she  had  not  yet  showed  a  lower  tier,  and  it  was 

199 


PAUL   JOXES 

too  dusk  to  make  out  clearly  whether  she  had  her  lower 
ports  closed,  or  if  she  had  any  at  all.  Finally,  after  order- 
ing a  hail  which  was  not  answered.  Captain  Pearson  took 
the  night  glasses  from  his  eyes  and  said,  '*  It  is  probably 
Paul  Jones.     If  so,  there  is  work  ahead  I ' ' 

Dr.  Bannatyne  says : 

Having  prepared  the  cock-pit  for  the  needs  of  action,  I 
went  on  deck,  where  Captain  Pearson  stood  near  the  break 
of  the  quarter-deck,  with  Mr.  Brenton  Wright  by  his  side. 
The  enemy  had  just  wore  his  ship  and  backed  his  topsail, 
fetching  his  broadside  to  bear  on  our  weather  bow,  distant 
one-half  mile.  "That  was  a  clever  manoeuvre, "  said  Cap- 
tain Pearson,  "  It  holds  for  him  the  w^eather-gage  and 
makes  it  impossible  for  me  to  luff  athwart  his  hav/se  with- 
out exposing  my  ship  to  be  raked.  He  means  to  fight.  I 
can't,  however,  make  out  his  rate  or  force  in  this  dusk. 
[It  was  then  some  time  after  sundov/n.]  From  his  height 
out  of  water  and  the  size  and  set  of  his  spars  and  rigging 
I  should  say  he  might  be  an  old  French  fifty  of  the  time  of 
the  last  war."  [Meaning  the  Old  French  War,  twenty 
years  before.] 

Then  Captain  Pearson  tried  his  night-glass  again,  the 
two  ships  meantime  slowiy  closing ;  the  enemy  edging 
down,  the  Serapis  holding  on.  Finally,  Captain  Pearson 
took  the  glass  from  his  eyes,  turned  to  me  and  said  : 
"Doctor,  the  stranger  is  probably  Paul  Jones.  If  so, 
there  is  work  ahead  I ' ' 

In  his  report  to  Dr.  Franklin,  Jones  says : 
"  Earnest  as  I  was  for  the  action,  I  could  not  reach 
the  Commodore's  ship  till  seven  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing, being-  then  within  pistol-shot,  when  he  hailed 
the  Bon  Homme  Kichard,  and  we  answered  him  by 
our  whole  broadside." 

200 


ON    THE   BON    HOaIME    RICHAED 

The  log  of  the  Serapis,  which  was  captured  with 
the  ship,  says,  in  its  last  entry :  "  Ships  now  fairly 
abeam,  a  cable's  length  [six  hundred  feet  apart]  on 
the  same  tack,  wind  abeam,  southwest,  light  but 
steady.  Sea  smooth,  moon  full,  sky  clear,  time 
7.15  P.M.  We  hail  second  time,  enemy  answers 
with  broadside." 


201 


CHAPTEE  IX 

THE    BATTLE   WITH   THE    SERAPIS 

The  battle  that  began  with  the  Pdchard's  broadside 
in  reply  to  the  last  hail  of  the  Serapis  is  a  subject 
about  which  the  world  seems  never  to  tire  of  read- 
ing-. This  fact  is  due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  among 
which  are  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  con- 
flict itself  ;  the  world-wide  fame  it  gained  at  the  time 
as  marking  an  epoch  in  naval  warfare — the  first  and 
the  only  instance  in  history  of  the  surrender  of  a 
British  man-of-war  to  a  ship  of  not  more  than  two- 
thirds  her  force ;  the  unique  fact  that  the  ship 
which  surrendered  destroyed  and  sunk  the  ship  that 
conquered  her ;  the  extraordinary  and  unheard-of 
desperation  of  both  combatants,  and  the  unexampled 
carnage  suffered  by  both  crews  ;  and  the  romantic, 
almost  weird,  interest  always  inspired  by  the  name 
of  Paul  Jones. 

Concerning  any  sea-battle  there  are  always  three 
prime  sources  of  information :  first,  the  official  re- 
ports of  commanding  oliicers  ;  second,  the  testimony 
in  the  formal  court-martial  always — at  least  in  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States — held  upon  a  captain 
who  loses  or  surrenders  his  ship  ;  and,  third,  the 
personal  narratives  of  participants  on  either  side. 

In  this  case  the  official  reports  of  both  command- 
ing officers  were  brief  and  general  in  their  acope,  af- 

202 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

fording"  but  little  sug-gestion  of  detail.  Jones's  ac- 
count of  the  battle  is  embraced  in  his  general  report 
of  the  cruise  as  a  whole,  made  to  Congress  through 
Dr.  Franklin.  This  document  fills  thirteen  pages  of 
ordinary  print,  of  which  only  two  and  one-quarter 
pages  are  devoted  to  description  of  the  combat  it- 
self. Pearson's  report  is  equally  sententious,  fill- 
ing only  two  and  one-half  pages  of  oflicial  ad- 
miralt}^  print,  and  of  that  nearly  half  is  taken  up  by 
casualties.  There  is,  therefore,  but  little  material 
for  detailed  description  in  them.  The  great  bulk, 
however,  of  the  historical  accounts  of  this  battle 
written  in  this  century  seem  to  be  based  upon  these 
reports,  the  skeletons  of  which  have  been  filled  in  or 
filled  out,  or  elaborated  or  embellished  to  suit  the 
fancies  of  the  myriad  writers,  who,  in  the  pages  of 
books  or  magazines,  or  in  the  columns  of  newspapers, 
have  perennially  chosen  this  battle  for  a  theme. 

Arriving  now  at  the  second  source  of  information 
indicated — that  is  to  say,  the  testimony  elicited  by 
resulting  courts-martial — we  find  that  it  is  much  more 
copious  and  satisfactory  than  the  official  reports  in 
the  sense  of  detail.  But,  unfortunately,  these  docu- 
ments are  not  easily  accessible  to  the  general  run  of 
writers,  because  they  are  not  published  except  in 
official  or  state  papers,  of  which  only  a  few  copies  are 
printed,  and  those  for  the  information  of  Congress 
or  Parliament,  and  not  for  popular  circulation. 

As  for  the  third  source  of  information  indicated 
— that  is  to  say,  the  personal  narratives  of  partici- 
pants— the  history  of  this  battle  is  exceptionally 
rich  in  literature  of  that  kind  ;  but  here  again  the 
misfortune  is  that  these  narratives  were  all  printed 

203 


PALL   JONES 

in  pamphlets  or  newspapers  published  more  than  a 
century  ag-o,  most  of  which  have  long  since  disap- 
peared, while  the  few  copies  still  extant  are  buried 
in  private  collections  of  rare  prints,  or  in  the  not 
easily  accessible  vaults  of  great  public  libraries. 
^Ye  have  seen  in  one  collection  twenty-three  pam- 
phlets on  the  subject  of  this  battle  in  the  French 
language  alone,  all  printed  in  Paris  and  other  cities 
of  France  during  the  years  1780  and  1781.  These 
were  all  written  either  by  Frenchmen  who  belonged 
to  the  Richard's  crew,  or  by  friends  who  wrote  their 
stories  for  them.  Another  collection  contains  almost 
an  equal  number  of  pamphlets  printed  in  England 
and  Scotland,  besides  bulky  scrap-books  filled  with 
the  newspaper  accounts  of  the  day,  both  in  this 
country  and  in  Great  Britain. 

As  already  remarked,  at  least  one  court-martial 
must  always  follow  a  naval  battle — that  of  the  de- 
feated commander.  In  this  case  there  are  two.  One 
was  that  of  Captain  Pearson,  who  was  not  only  hon- 
orably acquitted  of  all  blame  for  the  loss  of  his  ship, 
but  was  knighted  for  the  courage  and  skill  with 
which  he  defended  her  to  the  last.  The  other  was 
that  of  Pierre  Landais,  Captain  of  the  Alliance,  for 
the  treachery  and  cowardice  he  displayed  during  the 
battle,  and  also  for  his  general  and  persistent  mis- 
conduct during  the  cruise  as  a  whole.* 

The  testimony  in  the  Pearson  court-martial,  par- 
ticularly the  statement  of  Captain  Pearson  himself, 
is  lucid  and   of  great  historical  value,  as   is   also 

*  Landais's  court-martial  did  not  get  bej-ond  the  stajre  of  formal 
charges,  as  will  be  hereafter  explained,  and  accompanying  statements 
of  witnesses. 

204 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

that  of  Dr.  William  Bannatyne,  the  surgeon  of  the 
Serapis.  The  testimony  in  the  Landais  case  em- 
braces the  statements  of  twenty-three  officers,  of 
whom  five  were  on  board  the  Alliance  herself  during* 
the  action,  and  eighteen  in  the  Richard,  besides  the 
observations  of  Captain  Cottineau,  of  the  Pallas,  and 
Captain  E-icot,  of  the  Vengeance,  But  of  all  the  his- 
torical evidence  extant,  the  most  interesting  piece  is 
a  copy  of  the  graphic  diagram  or  plan  of  the  battle 
sketched  by  Jones  himself,  showing  the  ships  in 
twelve  different  positions,  which  he  drew  to  illustrate 
his  accusation  against  Landais,  and  his  detailed  ex- 
planation of  the  charges.  This  copy  was  preserved 
in  the  Gardner  Collection,  and  is  a^^proved  by  Jones 
w^ith  the  words  "  a  true  copy  "  and  his  signature. 
It  was  made  from  the  original  by  Henry  Gardner  in 
1782,  when  he  was  with  Jones  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
employed  in  fitting  out  the  America,  of  seventy-four 
guns. 

This  diagram  *  is  reproduced  here,  and  our  descrip- 
tion of  the  battle,  so  far  as  manoeuvre  is  concerned, 
will  be  based  upon  it.  Reference  to  the  diagram 
will  show  that  in  Position  No.  1,  which  w^as  due 
east  from  Flamboro'  Head,  distant  about  seven 
miles,  time  7.15  p.m.,  the  two  ships  were  on  the  same 
tack,  headed  northwest,  the  wind  southwest,  light, 
and  veering  to  the  westward.  The  sea  was  smooth, 
the  full  moon  was  rising,  and  the  sky  clear — ideal 
conditions  for  a  night  battle.     The  ships  had  ap- 

*  A  redraft  from  Gardner's  copy,  drawn  by  Mr.  John  Q.  A.  Moore, 
draughtsman  in  the  Bureau  of  Construction,  United  States  Navy.  The 
Bon  Homme  Richard  is  marked  ''R,"the  Serapis  '^  S,"  and  the  Al- 
liance "A." 

205 


PAUL   JONES 

preached  each  other  on  opposite  tacks,  the  Eich- 
arcl  wearing  around  Flamboro'  Head,  the  Serapis 
coming"  in  from  seaward,  the  former  holding  the 
weather-gage. 

Both  Jones  and  Pearson  say  in  their  reports,  or  in 
the  logs  of  their  ships,  that  the  Richard  answered 
the  last  hail  of  the  Serapis  with  a  broadside.  Lieu- 
tenant Dale,  in  his  narrative  of  the  battle,  written 
and  iDublished  many  years  afterward,  says:  "At  this 
moment  [the  moment  of  the  last  hail]  I  received 
orders  from  Commodore  Jones  to  commence  the 
action  with  a  broadside,  which,  indeed,  appeared  to 
be  simultaneous  on  board  both  ships." 

They  then  worked  northward  from  Position  No.  1 
at  a  rate  of  about  three  knots  an  hour,  the  wind  be- 
ing but  little  more  than  sufficient  to  give  them 
steering-way  with  the  tide.  They  maintained  their 
relative  positions  on  this  course  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  broadsiding  with  all  the  fury  they  could 
muster,  at  a  range  of  from  a  cable's  length  to  a  cable 
and  a  half  (600  to  900  feet).  In  this  part  of  the  action, 
almost  at  the  first  fire,  the  Bichard's  improvised 
steerage,  or  gun-room,  battery  of  eighteen-pound- 
ers  was  disabled  and  put  out  of  action  by  two  of 
them  blowing  up  back  of  the  trunnions,  the  explosion 
making  havoc  among  their  gun-crews,  lifting  the 
part  of  the  main  gun-deck  immediately  above  them, 
and  causing  considerable  demoralization  in  the  after- 
part  of  the  ship. 

Senior  Midshipman  and  Acting  Lieutenant  John 
Mayrant,  who  had  command  of  this  battery,  was 
severely  wounded  in  the  head  by  a  fragment  of 
one  of  the  exploded  guns,  and  also  scorched  by  the 

206 


kha^:^  > 


Wind  oLzm^M.- 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

blast  of  flame,  but  lie  held  his  command  and  at  once 
notified    First  Lieutenant  Dale,   commanding-    the 
main  gun-deck  battery,  that  the  eighteen-pounders 
mig-ht  as  well  be  abandoned,  because  the  men  could 
not  be  induced  to  work  the  others  any  more.     He 
also  reminded  Dale  that  they  were  all  from  the  same 
lot  condemned  as  of  no  further  use  in  the  French 
Navy,  when  they  were  mounted  in  the  Eichard  at 
rOrient.     Dale  then  ordered  Mayrant  to  abandon 
that  deck  and  report  with  his  remaining  men  to  the 
main-deck  battery.     Jones  says  in  his  report :   "  As 
for  the  six  old  eight een-pounders  that  formed  the 
battery  of  the  lower  gun-deck,  they  did  no  service 
whatever,   except   firing   eight    shots  in  all.     Two 
out  of  three  of  them  burst  at  the  first  fire,  killing 
almost  all  the  men  who  were  stationed  to  manage 

them." 

This  at  once  reduced  the  Kichard's  broadside  to 
fourteen  twelve-pounders  on  the  main  deck  and  four 
nine-pounders  on  the  quarter-deck,  throwing  two 
hundred  and  four  pounds  of  metal ;  as  against  the 
Serapis's  broadside  of  ten  eighteen-pounders  and 
fifteen  nine-pounders,  throwing  three  hundred  and 
fifteen  pounds  of  metal ;  in  other  words,  it  reduced 
the  Eichard  to  the  equivalent  rate  of  a  thirty- 
two-gun  frigate,  as  against  a  two-decker  forty- 
four. 

During  this  early  period  of  the  action  the  gunnery 
of  the  Eichard,  according  to  the  accounts  of  those 
present  on  both  sides,  was  excellent.  Though  her 
battery  was  one-third  lighter  than  that  of  the  Serapis ; 
though  her  gun-crews  were  composed  partly  of 
French  volunteers  who  had  never  been  at  sea  before 

207 


PAUL   JONES 

this  cruise  ;  tliough  the  heavier  battery  of  the  Serapis 
was  manned  by  perfectly  trained,  reg-ular  Eng-lish 
man-of-war  seamen ;  yet  in  accuracy  and  rapidity  of 
fire  the  Richard's  g-uunery  did  not  suffer  by  com- 
parison with  that  of  her  more  powerful  foe.  But  the 
eighteen-pounders  of  the  Serapis's  lower  tier  were 
served  with  skill  remarkable  even  for  trained  English 
gunners,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  superior 
weight  and  energy  of  their  shot  began  to  tell  de- 
cisively against  the  twelve-pounders  of  the  Richard, 
no  matter  how  bravely  or  how  skilfully  the  latter 
might  be  handled. 

Under  such  conditions  the  ships  reached  Position 
No.  2  in  about  twenty  minutes,  or  about  7.35  P.M., 
having  sailed,  or  rather  drifted,  during  that  time,  say, 
a  mile  and  a  half.  In  this  position  the  Serapis  was 
forereaching  the  Richard,  and  as  the  wind  kept  haul- 
ing to  the  westward  and  abeam  or  a  little  forward  of 
it  on  the  course  then  held,  the  Richard  began  to 
make  lee-way,  which,  as  the  Serapis  held  on  well, 
brought  the  two  ships  closer  together.  Pearson  now 
thousrht  he  saw  a  chance  to  take  advantage  of  the 
smarter  sailing  and  quicker  handling  of  his  ship,  and 
believed  he  had  headway  enough  to  luff  athwart  the 
Richard's  hawse  and  rake  her,  and  possibly  to  tack 
clear  round  her  bows  so  as  to  gain  the  weather-gage 
on  the  other  tack.  During  the  ten  minutes  or  so 
that  this  manoeuvre  was  in  progress  the  broadsiding 
continued  with  unremitting  fury,  and  the  superior 
weight  of  the  enemy's  metal  was  beginning  to  pro- 
duce distress  on  the  Richard's  gun-deck,  several  of 
her  twelve-pounders  having  been  dismounted  or 
otherwise  crippled,  and  the  efficiency  of  all  the  gun- 

208 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

crews  on  that  deck  seriously  impaired  by  tlie  havoc 
of  shot  and  splinters. 

By  this  time,  about  7.45  p.m.,  Position  No.  3  had 
been  reached.  This  position  was  produced  by  the 
failure  of  Pearson  to  luff  athwart  the  Richard's 
hawse.  When  he  began  this  manoeuvre  he  must 
either  have  miscalculated  his  own  distance  or  under- 
estimated the  way  the  Richard  had,  because,  though 
the  Serapis  held  her  luff  well,  she  lost  way  with  it, 
and,  the  Richard  continuing  to  forge  up,  it  became 
apparent  to  Pearson  that  if  he  persisted  in  the 
attempt  the  Richard  would  foul  him,  bows  on,  about 
amidships.  Doubtless  the  continued  veering  of  the 
wind  round  into  the  west  had  much  to  do  with  this 
mistake  of  Pearson,  because  it  kept  hauling  more 
and  more  ahead  as  he  luffed,  thereby  doubly  check- 
ing the  way  of  his  ship.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he 
did  not  want  the  Richard  to  foul  and  grapple  him, 
because  that  would  neutralize  to  a  great  extent  his 
sui3eriority  of  batter}^ ;  and  besides,  as  the  ships 
came  quite  close  in  this  manoeuvre,  he  became  sensi- 
ble of  the  effect  of  the  musketry  from  the  Richard's 
tops,  and  quarter-  and  poop-decks,  which  was  much 
more  destructive  than  the  musketry  of  his  own  com- 
paratively small  force  of  marines. 

Pearson,  therefore,  in  Position  No.  3,  box-hauled 
his  ship,  paid  her  bow  off  by  flattening  his  forward 
sails  and  tried  to  let  her  fall  off  to  leeward,  clear  of 
the  Richard.  In  this  effort,  however,  while  the  bow 
of  the  Serapis  paid  off,  her  stern  swung  to,  and  be- 
fore she  could  gather  way  again  the  Richard  ran  her 
jibboom  over  the  Serapis's  larboard  quarter  and  into 
her  mizzen  rigging.  Jones  then  made  his  first  at- 
VoL.  L— 14  209 


PAUL   JONES 

tempfc  to  grapple  with  his  adversary  by  throwing" 
grapnels  from  his  forecastle  into  the  mizzen  back- 
stays of  the  Serapis  ;  but,  though  the  irons  caught, 
the  lines  holding  them  soon  parted  as  the  Serapis 
fell  off  and  the  Kichard  forged  ahead.  During  this 
period  there  were  several  minutes  when  the  ships 
were  almost  in  line  ahead,  and  neither,  owing  to  the 
limited  arc  of  train  of  guns  in  ships  of  that  day,  could 
bring  her  broadside  to  bear. 

This  condition,  however,  soon  ended,  because  the 
Bichard's  way  was  not  materially  stopped  by  the 
partial  fouling  in  Position  No.  3,  while  the  Serapis 
fell  off  to  leeward,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  were 
abeam  again  in  Position  No.  4,  where  the  broad- 
siding  was  resumed.  Perhaps  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
had  been  consumed  in  the  manoeuvres  included 
under  the  general  head  of  Position  No.  3,  so  that 
Position  No.  4  may  be  assumed  to  have  been  reached 
within  a  few  minutes,  either  way,  of  8  p.m.  At  this 
stage  of  the  action  it  had  become  perfectly  evi- 
dent, not  only  to  Commodore  Jones  but  to  every- 
one else  in  the  Richard,  that  there  was  no  earthly 
chance  of  success  in  a  contest  of  broadsides.  The 
battle  had  lasted  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 
Its  result  up  to  that  time  is  better  described  than  wo 
have  ever  seen  elsewhere,  in  the  narrative  of  Plenry 
Gardner,  published  in  pamphlet  form  at  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  in  1782.  Gardner  was  first  quarter-gunner 
of  the  E-ichard  at  the  beginning  of  the  action,  and  at 
its  end  he  was  acting-gunner,  in  consequence  of  the 
disrating  of  his  immediate  senior,  the  gunner  of  the 
ship — Arthur  liandall — in  the  midst  of  the  battle, 
for  misconduct,  hereafter  explained. 

210 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

Writing  of  this  stage  of  the  action,  Gardner  says : 

As  soon  as  the  ships  could  bring  their  guns  to  bear  again 
after  separating,  the  fire  of  both  was  renewed  ;  the  enemy's 
as  heavy  and  destructive  as  before,  but  ours  much  weaker. 
In  fact  but  little  of  our  starboard  broadside  was  left.  Of 
the  fourteen  twelve-pounders  in  it  at  the  beginning,  nine 
were  either  dismounted  by  their  carriages  and  tackle  being 
smashed  by  the  eighteen-pound  shot  of  the  enemy's  lower 
tier,  or  else  so  jammed  through  wreckage  of  the  port-open- 
ings from  the  same  cause  as  to  be  unserviceable.  Of  the 
hundred  and  forty-odd  officers  and  men  stationed  in  the 
main  gun-deck  battery  at  the  beginning,  more  than  half — 
at  least  over  eighty — were  killed  or  wounded.  The  whole 
deck  was  slippery  with  blood  and  littered  with  fragments 
of  heads,  bodies,  and  limbs. 

It  was  clear  to  everyone  that,  at  this  rate,  the  end  could 
not  be  far  off  ;  and,  besides,  it  was  known  that  many  of  the 
enemy's  eighteen-pound  shot  had  pierced  our  hull  between 
wind  and  water,  and  there  was  already  at  least  three  or  four 
feet  of  water  in  the  hold,  and  rapidly  gaining.  From  the 
gun-deck  itself,  looking  out -port,  we  could  see  that  the 
port  sills  were  much  nearer  the  water's  surface  than  at  the 
beginning,  showing  that  the  ship  had  already  sunk  at 
least  two  feet  from  her  natural  trim.  Yet,  despite  this 
wreck  and  carnage,  I  could  not  see  that  any  of  our  remain- 
ing men  were  disposed  to  flinch,  or  that  the  five  guns  we 
had  left  were  worked  with  any  less  will  than  at  the  start. 

Just  at  this  time  the  Commodore  came  down  on  the  gun- 
deck  an  I  said  to  Mr.  Dale,  who  was  at  the  moment  near 
me  : 

**  Dick,  his  metal  Is  too  heavy  for  us  at  this  business.  He 
is  hammering  us  all  to  pieces.  We  must  close  with  him  ; 
we  must  get  hold  of  him  !  Be  prepared  at  any  moment  to 
abandon  this  deck  and  bring  what  men  you  have  left  on 
the  spar-deck — and  give  them  the  small  arms  for  boarding 
when  you  come  up. ' ' 

211 


PAUL   JOXES 

Having  said  this  to  Mr.  Dale,  the  Commodore  returned 
to  the  upper  decks,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  cutlasses,  pis- 
tols, and  some  pikes  and  muskets  were  served  out  to  us  and 
we  went  above,  except  a  few  left  to  guard  the  hatches  under 
which  the  prisoners  were  confined.     .     .     . 

The  worst  carnage  of  all  was  on  number  two  gun  of  the  for- 
ward starboard  division.  From  the  first  broadside  till  the 
gun-deck  was  abandoned,  nineteen  different  men  were  on 
this  gun,  and  at  the  end,  but  one  of  her  original  crew  re- 
mained. That  was  our  little  Indian,  Anthony  Jeremiah  ; 
or,  as  his  mess-mate  nickname  was,  '*  Eed  Jerry  " — gener- 
ally pronounced  by  the  crew  "Red  Cherry."  He  was 
'*  port-fire  "  throughout.  ["  Port-fire  "  in  those  days,  before 
locks,  primers,  or  lanyards  were  invented,  meant  the  man 
who  tended  the  slow-match  and  touched  off  the  gun  when 
laid. — Author.] 

When  the  gun-deck  was  abandoned  and  we  went  above, 
Jerry  joined  Mayrant's  boarding-party  and  was  among  the 
first  over  the  enemy's  hammock-netting  in  the  final  rush. 
Surely,  I  think,  the  natural  blood-thirst  of  Jerry's  savage 
race  must  have  been  glutted  in  that  battle.  He  seemed  to 
bear  a  charmed  life ;  for  he  didn't  get  a  scratch  from  first 
to  last,  except  maybe  a  cut  or  two  by  splinters. 

During-  this  time  the  wind  had  steadily  hauled 
until  it  was  now  very  close  to  the  west  point,  and 
was  freshening"  a  little  as  it  veered.  This  helped 
the  Richard  sooner  than  it  did  the  Seraj^is,  by 
enabling-  her  to  gather  way  first,  and  it  also  aided 
Jones  in  his  manoeuvre  of  wearing  off  the  wind  to 
close  with  the  enemy.  Holding  this  course.  Posi- 
tion No.  5  was  quickl}^  reached,  and,  a  few  minutes 
later,  Position  No.  G,  where  the  ships  were  not  more 
than  one  hundred  feet  apart,  the  Richard  exactly 
between  the  wind  and  the  Serapis,  and  completely 

212 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

blanketing  the  latter,  who  quickly  lost  way  as  the 
wind  was  shut  out  from  her  sails  by  the  Eicharcl's 
blanket.  Thus  far  the  manoeuvre  had  exactly  met 
Jones's  desig-n.  It  only  remained  for  him  to  get  way 
enough  on  the  Eichard  to  shoot  across  the  forefoot 
of  the  now  almost  stationary  Serapis,  when  his  hope 
of  grappling  her  would  be  realized.  In  the  mean- 
time the  broadsides  of  the  Serapis  were  more  ter- 
rific, if  possible,  than  ever,  while  the  gun-deck  bat- 
tery of  the  Kichard  was  silent  and  abandoned,  no 
cannon  now  being  used  on  the  Eichard  except  the 
quarter-deck  nine-pounders,  and  of  these  only  three, 
in  the  starboard  broadside,  remained  serviceable. 

Position  No.  6  was  really  the  crisis  of  the  battle, 
because  there  was  determined  the  question  whether 
or  not  the  Eichard  could  hold  way  enough  to  get 
her  head  across  the  forefoot  of  the   Serapis,  and 
then  foul  and  grapple  her  before  the  latter  could  fall 
off  as  she  had  already  done  in  Position  No.  3.    This 
was  the  last  resort ;  the  only  remaining  hope.     If  it 
failed,  and  if  the  Serapis  could  get  one  more  break- 
away, on  either  tack,  clear  of  the  Eichard,  out  of  reach 
of  a  grapple,  and  free  to  use  her  lower  tier  of  eigh- 
teen-pounders  again  at  any  range,  no  fate  would  be 
left  the  Eichard  but  to  surrender  or  sink  alongside. 
Strangely  enough,  in  the  midst  of  this  agony  of 
Position  No.  6,  the  Alliance  appeared  to  windward, 
hove-to  about  two  cables'  length  away  on  the  Eich- 
ard's  port  quarter,  and  opened  fire,  first  with  a  broad- 
side of  solid  shot,  and  afterward  one  of  grape  and 
bar-shot    or    "double-headers."      Eeference  to  the 
diagram  and  note  of  the  position  of  the  Alliance 
marked  ''Al"  must  exhibit  beyond  question  that 

213 


PAUL   JONES 

she  could  not  possibly  have  hit  any  ship  but  the 
Kichard  with  these  broadsides,  because,  as  the  Alli- 
ance stood  at  that  moment,  not  one  of  her  shot  could 
have  touched  the  Serapis  without  first  passing- 
through  the  hull  or  rigging  of  the  Richard. 

Of  this  episode  of  the  battle  Jones  says  in  his 
report  to  Dr.  Franklin  :  "  At  last  the  Alliance  ap- 
peared, and  I  now  thought  the  battle  at  an  end  ; 
but  to  my  utter  astonishment  he  discharged  a  broad- 
side full  into  the  stern  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard." 
After  firing  these  broadsides  the  Alliance  ran  olT  to 
the  northward  close  hauled,  and  was  gone  for  some 
time  out  of  gunshot. 

At  this  moment,  with  his  main  battery  completely 
silenced,  his  ship  beginning  to  sink,  his  consort  fir- 
ing into  him,  and  nearly  half  his  crew  hors  de  combat, 
but  one  chance  of  victory  remained  for  Paul  Jones, 
and  that  was  a  slender  one — the  chance  of  fouling 
the  enemy  and  laying  him  on  board.  Under  these 
conditions,  Position  No.  6  in  a  few  minutes  developed 
into  Position  No.  7. 

Here  the  blanketing  by  the  Richard  had  quite 
stopped  the  headway  of  the  Serapis.  At  the  same 
time  a  fortunate  puff  of  wind,  as  it  veered  toward 
west-northwest,  had  struck  the  Richard  at  the  criti- 
cal moment,  enabling  her  to  keep  her  steering-way 
sufficiently  to  both  shoot  ahead  of  the  Serapis  and 
also  to  broach  to  on  tlie  other  tack  across  her 
forefoot.  In  single  combats  between  sail-ships  in 
those  days,  it  frequently  happened  that  a  sudden 
haul  or  a  quick  puff  of  wind  one  way  or  the  other 
decided  the  fate  of  battle.  The  lucky  puff'  that 
struck   and    filled    the  sails    of  the  crippled  Bon 

214 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

Homme  Bicharcl  at  the  critical  moment  in  Position 
No.  6,  happening-  as  it  did  when  the  blanketed  Serapis 
could  g-et  no  benefit  from  it,  was  without  question  a 
most  important  if  not  absolutelj^  decisive  element  in 
the  fortunes  of  an  otherwise  hopeless  strug-g-le.  At 
all  events,  it  quickly  produced  Position  No.  7,  in 
which  the  Kichard,  with  considerable  way,  got 
athwart  the  hawse  of  the  Serapis,  standing  still  and 
practically  unmanageable  ;  or  at  least  not  under  con- 
trol from  total  want  of  steering-way. 

At  the  time  of  this  manoeuvre  the  Kichard's  wheel 
had  been  shot  away,  and  an  eighteen-pound  shot 
through  her  counter  had  shattered  the  tiller  and 
cracked  the  iron  strap  that  held  it  to  the  rudder- 
head.  But  this  mishap  had  been  provided  for. 
Jones,  while  overhauling  the  Richard  at  i'Orient  be- 
fore sailing,  had  fitted  a  spare  tiller  to  the  rudder- 
stem  below  the  main  tiller,  or  where  it  passed 
through  the  after  part  of  the  gun-room  or  steerage 
on  the  deck  below,  and  to  this  he  had  rove  give-and- 
take  or  relieving  tackle  to  steer  by  hand  in  case  the 
wheel,  wheel-roi^es,  or  main  tiller  should  be  disabled 
in  action.  This  spare  steering-gear,  provided  with 
such  foresight,  now  came  into  use,  and  by  means  of 
it  the  Bichard  was  enabled  to  take  advantage  of  her 
last  chance  of  victory. 

We  may  now  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  situation 
on  board  the  Serapis  at  this  turning-point  in  the 
battle.  Dr.  Bannatyne,  in  his  paper  previously 
noted,  says  ; 

It  was  now  seen  by  Captain  Pearson  that  the  enemy's 
design  of  rounding  our  bows  could  not  be  frustrated.     Our 

215 


PAUL   JONES 

ship's  way  was  wholly  stopped  and  she  lay  like  a  log  on 
the  water  witli   sails   Happing   idly,  the   wind,   of    which 
there  was  but  little,  being  wholly  blanketed  from  us  by 
»  the  enemy's  sails  not  a  hundred  feet  away. 

In  this  emergency  Captain  Pearson  threw  all  his  main 
and  after  sails  aback,  hoping  as  soon  as  the  enemy's  stern 
should  swing  a  little  more  with  the  weather,  the  wind  would 
again  reach  our  after  sails  aback  and  give  our  ship  stern- 
way  so  she  might  back  clear.  But  this  expedient  proved 
vain  because  the  enemy  rounded  very  close  and  when  the 
little  wind  there  was  struck  our  after  sails  its  effect  was 
only  to  swing  our  stern  to  leeward.  By  this  means  our 
bowsprit  and  jib-boom  barely  escaped  running  inboard  the 
mizzen-shroud-stays  of  the  enemy  as  she  came  round,  and 
the  jib-boom  did  run  in  over  the  enemy's  poop-deck  on  liis 
starboard  quarter,  where  it  was  grappled  by  a  turn  of  a 
small  hawser  and  made  fast  to  the  enemy's  mizzen  mast. 

But  this  was  not  the  worst.  Our  ship  was  now  begin- 
ning to  gather  a  little  stern-way  ;  but  the  enemy  kept  graz- 
ing along  our  side  until  the  outboard  fluke  of  our  star- 
board anchor  hooked  in  his  mizzen-chains,  where  it  was 
quickly  lashed  fast,  and  thus,  at  last,  the  enemy  had  effected 
the  grapple  that  Captain  Pearson  so  earnestly  sought  to 
avoid. 

These  untoward  events  completely  altered  the  character 
of  the  conflict.  No  sooner  had  the  American  Commodore 
made  the  ships  fast  than  he  abandoned  all  attempt  at 
great-gun  fire,  except  with  two  or  three  small  pieces  on 
his  quarter-deck,  and  gave  all  his  energy  to  induce  an  over- 
powering fire  of  musketry  from  his  upper  decks  and  tops. 
In  this  situation  our  superior  battery  below  cut  no  figure 
whatever,  though,  as  soon  as  he  ranged  down  on  our 
starboard  broadside  our  lower-tier  gun-crews  were  shifted 
to  that  side,  and  as  the  ships  were  so  close  together  that  the 
port-lids  could  not  be  triced-up,  our  sailors  blew  them  out 
with  the  first  discharges  of  our  starboard  eighteen-pound- 
ers.     But  this  did  no  good,  because  our  shot  now  did  noth- 

210 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

ing  but  make  a  clean  breach  through  a  gun-deck  already 
riddled,  silenced,  and  abandoned.  The  real  battle  now 
was  above  decks  ;  and  here,  as  we  soon  found  to  our  fatal 
cost,  our  apparently  unconquerable  foe  had  the  best  of  it. 

As  soon  as  Captain  Pearson  saw  that  our  starboard 
anchor  was  fouled  in  the  enemy's  chains,  he  ordered  that 
anchor  to  be  let  go  by  cutting  away  the  ring-stopper  and 
shank-painter.  Unfortunately  these  fastenings  were  led 
from  our  forecastle  and  so  were  commanded  by  the  enemy's 
marksmen  with  their  muskets  in  his  tops  and  on  his  high 
poop-deck,  which  overhung  our  forecastle.  The  American 
Commodore,  realizing  the  vital  need  to  him  of  guarding 
this  grapple,  personally  directed  the  musketry-fhe  of  his 
marines  on  the  poop-deck  agamst  everyone  who  tried  to 
cut  the  painter  and  stopper  to  let  the  anchor  go.  It  was 
said  by  his  own  men  in  conversation  afterward  that  the 
American  Commodore  was  so  determined  in  defence  of  this 
grapple  that  he,  several  times,  when  oar  men  approached 
to  cut  the  fastenings  of  the  anchor,  took  muskets  from  the 
hands  of  his  marines  and  shot  down  our  men  by  his  own 

aim.  . 

Let  this  be  so  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  every  one  of  our 
people  who  approached  the  fastenings  of  that  anchor  re- 
ceived from  one  to  half  a  dozen  musket-balls  for  his  pams ; 
naturally  the  attempt  was  not  long  persisted  in,  and  finally 
our  (acting)  Third  Lieutenant,  Mr.  Popplewell,  was  shot 
through  the  head  in  a  last  desperate  attempt  to  cut  the 
fastenings.  After  this,  not  only  was  no  further  attempt 
made,  but  that  part  of  our  deck  was  abandoned  by  officers 
and  men  alike,  exposure  there  being  simply  an  invitation 
of  certain  death. 

The  foregoing  extract  from  Dr.  Bannatyne's  paper 
is  the  testimony  of  a  fair-minded,  judicial  enemy— 
and  a  non-combatant  officer  at  that-printed  twen.y 

years  after  the  battle. 

217 


PAUL   JONES 

From  the  American  point  of  view,  the  best  de- 
scription extant  of  this  period  of  the  battle  is  that 
of  Nathaniel  Fanning-.     He  says  : 

Everything  now  depended  on  the  musketry  of  our  ship  ; 
of  the  sailors  in  the  fore,  main,  and  mizzen  tops  with  mus- 
kets and  hand  grenades,  and  the  French  marines,  who  were 
mostly  stationed  on  the  quarter-deck,  poop-deck,  and  top 
of  the  roundhouse  ;  and  but  few  of  them  were  left.  Our 
gun-deck  battery  was  all  silenced  by  this  time,  and  the  few 
men  of  those  serving  in  it  not  killed  or  disabled  had  aban- 
doned that  deck.  Most  of  our  twelve-pounders  were  dis- 
mounted, or  so  cluttered  with  wreckage  that  we  could  not 
work  them.  The  eighteen-pounders  of  the  enemy's  lower 
tier  were  driving  in  beams,  knees,  and  planking  of  the  deck 
under  our  feet,  and  his  upper  tier  of  nine-pounders  were 
splintering  everything  overhead,  in  consequence  of  the 
height  of  our  one  gun-deck  being  a  little  more  than  that  of 
his  lower  tier  and  less  than  that  of  his  upper  tier,  until  our 
gun-deck  battery  was  wholly  out  of  action,  untenable  fore 
and  aft,  and  our  only  cannon  still  serviceable  were  three 
of  our  quarter-deck  nine-pounders,  and  these  were  being 
v/orked  with  a  will. 

The  lower  tier  of  the  Serapis  was,  of  course,  all  decked 
over,  so  our  musketry  could  not  reach  the  English  on  that 
deck.  But  the  upper  tier  of  the  Serapis  was  uncovered 
through  the  waist  of  that  ship,  which  was  rather  long, 
both  her  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  being  short. 

In  face  of  these  facts  it  became  the  Commodore's  tactics 
to  give  his  whole  attention  to  clearing  the  exposed  decks  of 
the  enemy,  leaving  her  lower  tier  to  do  its  worst,  because 
he  could  not  reach  it  any  more  with  any  disposable  tire. 
He  therefore  assumed,  and  held  for  the  rest  of  the  action, 
direct  command  of  his  French  marines  in  person.  Their 
proper  captain,  de  Chamillard,  had  suffered  a  distressing 
v/ound  in  the  knee  early  in  the  action,  and  their  lieuten- 

213 


THE   BATTLE   WITH   THE    SERAPIS 

ants,  de  Mezieres  and  de  la  Bernerie,  had  been  both 
woukded,  the  latter  mortally.  They  had  also  by  this  time 
lost  heavily  from  their  rank  and  file,  and,  on  the  whole, 
seemed  a  little  discouraged  at  the  moment  when  the  Com- 
modore took  command  of  them  in  person,  not  more  than 
twenty  or  twenty-five  of  them  being  left  at  this  time  fit  for 

duty. 

I  myself  was  in  the  maintop  at  this  time,  fifty  or  sixty 
feet  above  the    quarter-deck,  but  I  could  distinctly  hear, 
amid  the  crashing  of  the  musketry,  the  great  voice  of  the 
Commodore,  cheering  the    French  marines   in  their  own 
tongue,  uttering  such  imprecations  upon  the  enemy  as  I 
never  before  or  since  heard   in  French  or  any  other  lan- 
guage, exhorting  them  to   take  good  aim,  pointing   out 
objects  for  their  fire,  and  frequently  giving  them  direct 
example  by  taking  their  loaded  muskets  from  their  hands 
into  his  and  firing  himself.      In  fact,  toward  the  very  last, 
he  had  about  him  a  group  of  half  a  dozen  marines  who  did 
nothing  but  load  their  firelocks  and  hand  them  to  the 
Commodore,  who  fired  them  from  his  own  shoulder,  stand- 
ing on  the  quarter-deck  rail  by  the  main  topmast  backstay. 
Fighting  of  this  kind  could  not  long  fail  to  tell.     The 
part  "of  the  enemy's  upper  tier  exposed  in  the  waist  was  very 
soon  abandoned.     In  fact  most  of  the  gun-crews  in  that 
part  of  the  enemy's  battery  were  shot  down  by  musket  balls 
from  our  quarter  and  poop  decks  and  roundhouse.    I^either 
could  the  enemv  stand  to  his  wheel  nor  could  his  sails  be 
handled  because,  of  course,  all  the  running  rigging,  cleets, 
and  leaders  being  aboveboard,  it  was  instant  death  to  any 
English  sailor  that  tried  to  touch  a  brace,  sheet,  or  halliard. 
Their  anchor-fluke  being  lashed  foul  in  our  mizzen-chains 
they  repeatedly  tried  to  get  their  men  with  hatchets  to  cut 
the  shank-painter  and  ring-stopper  of  that  anchor  to  let  it 
go,  and  in  that  way  drift  clear  of  us  ;  but  the  Commodore 
watched  this  fastening  all  the  time  and  had  men  ready  to 
shoot  any  English  sailor  that  tried  to  cut  the  painter  aiid 
stopper.     In  fact  it  was  against  the  enemy's  men  that  tried 

2iU 


PAUL   JOXES 

this  that  his  own  fire  with  muskets  taken  from  the  hands 
of  his  French  marines  was  mainly  directed,  he  being  deter- 
mined that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to  east  off  that  lash- 
ing. There  must  have  been  ten  or  tAvelve  of  the  enemy's 
men  shot  in  these  attempts,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  the 
Commodore  shot  many  of  them  himself  with  firelocks 
handed  to  him  by  the  marines  at  his  side.  As  he  had 
turned  these  hitches  with  his  own  hands  when  the  ships 
first  fouled,  he  had  an  undoubted  right  to  keep  anybody 
from  casting  them  loose. 

Of  course  this  was  most  natural,  because  not  only  the 
Commodore  but  also  the  smallest  boy  in  the  ship  knew 
that  our  sole  chance  of  victory  lay  in  the  holding  of  those 
lashings ;  because  it  was  certain  that,  if  the  enemy  ever 
once  got  clear,  we  could  never  more  get  way  enough  in 
our  crippled  condition  to  grapple  him  again,  and  he  would 
then  choose  his  distance  and  sink  us  at  his  pleasure  with 
his  lower  tier  that  had  not  been  much  damaged.* 

Tlie  foregoing'  quotations  from  descriptions  by 
eye-witnesses  on  botli  sides  have  to  some  extent  an- 
ticipated the  main  thread  of  our  narrative.  Return- 
ing" now  to  the  plan  of  battle,  it  will  be  observed 
that  Positions  Nos.  7,  8,  and  9,  though  separately 
sketched  by  Jones  for  the  most  precise  elucidation 

*  Most  of  the  quotations  from  Fanning  in  this  work  refer  to  the  new 
and  enlarged  edition  of  his  narrative  published  in  1S26,  which  is  much 
more  cofious  and  better  arranged  than  the  original  New  London  (Conn.) 
edition  of  18UG.  Fanning  was  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  upon 
its  reorganization  after  the  Revolution.  He  died,  September  30,  1805,  of 
yellow  fever,  at  Charleston,  S.  C ,  while  commandant  of  the  naval  station 
there.  His  brother.  Captain  Edmund  Fanning,  published  some  extracts 
from  his  journals  in  1800,  and  a  larger  edition  was  printed  in  1826.  Jones 
says  :  ''Fanning  was  a  brave  and  sensible  ofl&cer.  In  the  action  witli  the 
Serapis  he  was  stationed  in  the  maintop,  where  his  behavior  did  him  great 
credit,  and  materially  influenced  the  result.  He  was  always  perfectly 
cool  and  of  dauntless  bravery.  .  .  .  After  that  cruise  he  commanded 
the  French  privateer,  TEclipse  of  Dunkirk  till  the  end  of  the  war,  with 
infinite  honor  to  himself  and  tiic  service,  and  vast  damage  to  the  enemy." 

220 


THE    BATTLE    WITH    THE    SERAPIS 

of  his  charges  in  tlie  Lanclais  case,  represent  a  meUe 
of  manoeuvre  which  it  is  impracticable  to  analyze  dis- 
tinctly in  parts.  Taken  together,  these  three  posi- 
tions include  the  jDeriod  of  action  from  the  moment 
when  the  Richard  began  to  shoot  across  the  forefoot 
of  the  Serapis,  in  Position  No.  7,  until  the  two  ships 
had  been  locked  together  head  and  stern  by  the  foul- 
ing of  the  anchor  of  the  Serapis  in  the  mizzen-chains 
of  the  Eichard,  in  Position  No.  9. 

Not  much  time  was  consumed  in  this  nntUe  ;  per- 
haps a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Among  the  descriptions 
of  this  particular  episode  of  the  battle,  by  far  the 
most  quaint  and  graphic  is  that  of  Pierre  Gerard,  a 
French  volunteer  in  the  Eichard,  who  was  one  of 
the  Commodore's  orderlies  of  the  day  during  the 
battle.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
fact  that,  as  nearly  half  of  the  crew  were  Frenchmen, 
the  French  as  well  as  the  English  language  had  to 
be  used  in  ordinary  course  of  command.  For  this 
reason  it  was  Commodore  Jones's  custom  to  have 
detailed  for  his  personal  attendance  each  day  one 
French-speaking  and  one  English-speaking  orderly. 
As  a  rule  he  selected  for  his  English-speaking  orderly 
a  sailor  who  could  understand  some  French,  and  for 
his  French  orderly  a  sailor  or  marine  who  could  speak 
a  little  English.  On  the  day  of  the  battle  his  Amer- 
ican orderly  was  John  Downes — a  name  easily  recog- 
nizable in  the  naval  history  of  our  country — and  his 
French  orderly  w^as  Pierre  Gerard — a  name  of  hon- 
orable celebrity  in  the  subsequent  annals  of  the 
French  Navy  in  the  Revolution  and  under  the  Con- 
sulate and  Emx)ire.  In  1781,  about  a  year  after  the 
battle,  a  pamphlet  was   printed  in  Paris  entitled 

231 


PAUL   JONES 

"  Memoir  dn  Combat ;  par  Pierre  Gerard  ;  *  Volou- 
taire  frangois  du  Bon  Homme  Richard.  Redaction 
par  Mme.  de  Telison." 

The  following"  is  a  free  translation  of  Gerard's 
narrative.     He  says : 

"I  have  seen  all  this.  I  have  been  part  of  it.  Being 
orderly  of  the  day  to  the  Commodore,  I  could  not  leave 
him.  I  must  see  all  he  did  and  hear  all  he  said.  I  have 
seen  Captain  de  Chamillard  leave  his  post  of  commandant  of 
the  marines.  He  had  suffered  a  contusion  of  the  knee,  but 
I  do  not  know  that  it  was  enough  to  make  a  brave  man 
quit  his  post.  Many  of  the  crew,  both  French  and  Amer- 
ican, staid  to  the  finish  with  much  worse  wounds.     But  it  is 

*  Pierre  Gerard  was  a  j'^oung  French  sailor  whose  home  was  at  I'Orient, 
where  his  mother  (then  Madame  d'Arbergne  by  a  second  marriage)  kept 
the  inn  where  Jones  was  accustomed  to  take  lodgings  when  in  that  city. 
Pierre's  father  had  been  a  warrant  officer  in  the  French  Navy  and  was 
killed  in  the  battle  of  Quiberon  Bay,  November  20,  1759,  between  the 
fleets  of  Hawke  and  Conflans,  Avhen  Pierre  was  about  four  years  old. 
When  Jones  went  to  TOrient,  early  in  1779,  to  fit  out  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  Pierre  had  just  returned  from  a  voyage  to  the  East  Indies,  and, 
though  only  about  twenty-four  years  old,  had  passed  ten  years  of  his  life 
at  sea,  and  was  a  prime  sailor.  He  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  French 
volunteers  whom  Jones  enlisted,  and  was  soon  rated  quartermaster. 

His  "Memoir  du  Combat"  is  an  exceedingly  rare  pamphlet.  It  was 
printed  at  I'Orient  in  1780,  and  reprinted  m  enlarged  form,  with  a  few 
illustrations,  at  Paris  in  1781.  Its  style  is  mainly  in  the  quaint  idiom  of 
Bretagne,  though  evidently  the  Paris  edition  of  1781  was  much  altered 
from  the  Breton  original  by  the  "  editing  "  of  Madame  de  Telison.  The 
peculiar  value  of  Pierre's  little  book  or  pamphlet  lies  in  the  fact  that  its 
narrative  of  the  battle  is  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  sailor  whose  post  of 
duty  as  orderly  was  by  the  side  of  the  Commodore  throughout,  and  also 
to  the  fact  that,  among  its  illustrations,  it  preserves  an  outboard  profile 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  showing  arrangement  of  battery,  deck  plan, 
and  general  contour  of  the  ship  as  sketched  by  Commodore  Jones  him- 
self wlien  she  was  ready  to  sail.  This  profile,  which  is  printed  facing  page 
170  of  this  volume,  represents  the  ship  at  light  draught,  much  higher  out 
of  water  than  she  would  be  when  stored  and  provisioned  for  a  long  cruise. 

223 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

not  for  me  to  reflect  on  the  behavior  of  my  superior 
oflficer. 

''When  he  [Chamillard]  was  gone  Commodore  Jones 
sprang  among  the  shaking  marines  on  the  quarter  deck  like 
a  tiger  among  calves.'^  Tliey  responded  instantly  to  him. 
In  an  instant  they  were  filled  with  courage  !  The  indomi- 
table spirit,  the  unconquerable  courage  [literally  '  bravery 
without  end']  of  the  Commodore  penetrated  every  soul,  and 
every  one  who  saw  his  example  or  heard  his  voice  became 
as  much  a  hero  as  himself  ! 

**At  that  moment  the  fate  of  the  combat  was  decided. 
Every  man  whose  wounds  permitted  him  to  stand  up 
pressed  forward  to  the  front  of  danger,  and  the  Commodore 
had  but  to  look  at  a  man  to  make  him  brave.  Such  Avas 
the  power  of  one  heart  that  knew  no  fear  !  Such  the  in- 
fluence of  one  soul  that  knew  the  meaning  of  no  other 
word  than  conquest  !  " 

When  the  ships  ranged  alongside,  close  aboard,  the  Com- 
modore watched  until  he  saw  that  the  fluke  of  the  enemy's 
anchor  would  hook  in  our  mizzen  foot  shrouds  close  to  the 
channels.  They  soon  engaged  and  before  the  way  could  be 
stopped  the  anchor-fluke  of  the  enemy  had  ripped  through 
two  of  the  foot-stays  and  strained  heavily  at  the  third.  But 
this  one  did  not  give  way  and  then  the  Commodore,  calling 
on  me  to  follow  and  pass  lashings,  leaped  through  the 
quarter-deck  port  into  the  channels  and  quickly  made  the 
fluke  of  the  anchor  fast  to  our  stays,  passing  the  line  clear 
round  the  latter  and  doubling  it  again  over  the  fluke  so 
that  when  the  ships  tended  they  would  not  drift  clear. 

The  way  of  both  ships  being  now  stopped,  they  tended, 
the  lashings  took  the  strain  and  held  on  and  they  then  set- 
tled together  again,  when  the  lashings  and  foot-stays  showed 
by  their  slack  that  they  would  hold.  When  the  Commodore 
saw  this  he  hove  the  slack  of  the  lashings  inboard  through 

*  Literally,  in  Pierre  Gerard's  French  text,  "  S'elan(;ant  parmi  des  sol- 
dats  de  marine  s'effrayants,  en  tigre  parmi  des  veaux." 

223 


PAUL   JOXES 

the  quarter-deck  port  and  exclaimed  :  "Ah,  Pierre,  mon 
brave,  tout  va  bien  !  Enfin  je  le  tiens — cet  enfant  de  garce 
anglois  !  Sacr-r-r-u  nom  de  Dieu,  il  ne  peut  pas  m'6chap- 
per  encore  !  " 

These  words  I  thought  remarkable,  because  the  Com- 
modore was  not  given  to  the  use  of  rude  phrases.  But  it 
was  a  moment  of  much  excitement. 

We  had  hardly  arrived  once  more  on  the  quarter-deck 
when  great  confusion  was  visible.  One  of  the  under-officers 
of  the  ship,  the  gunner,  Arthur  Randall,  had  called  for 
quarter  and  said  the  ship  was  about  to  sink.  Our  flag  had 
aLso  been  shot  away  with  the  ensign-gaff  and  trailed  in  the 
water  astern,  held  only  by  the  halliards.  Hearing  the  cry 
for  quarter  and  no  longer  beholding  our  flag,  the  English 
captain  hailed  to  know  if  we  had  yielded. 

At  this  point  Pierre's  original  French  version  is 
interesting : 

En  ce  moment,  crie  le  capitaine  anglais.  **Avez  vous 
amene  votre  pavilion  ?  ' '  Auquel,  f erocement,  et  lachant 
un  gros  juron,  a  repondu  le  Commodore  Jones — "  JS^on  ! 
je  vais  a  I'instant  commencer  le  combat  ! ' ' 

Of  this  incident  Jones  himself,  in  his  report  to  Dr. 
Franklin,  says  :  "  The  English  Commodore  now 
asked  me  if  I  demanded  quarter,  and  I  having  an- 
sicered  him  in  the  most  determined  negative^  they  re- 
newed the  battle  with  double  fury." 

Captain  Pearson  in  his  report  says :  "  At  10  o'clock 
P.M.  they  called  for  quarter  from  the  ship  alongside ; 
hearing  this  I  called  upon  the  captain  to  know  if 
he  had  struck,  or  if  he  asked  for  quarter  ;  but  hear- 
ing no  answer,"  etc.  The  official  report  of  Ca]itain 
Pearson  in  which  the  foregoing  appears  was  dated 

224 


THE    BATTLE    WITH    THE    SERAPIS 

"  On  Board  the  Pallas,  French  Frigate  in  Congress 
Service,  Texel,  October  6,  1779." 

In  his  statement  to  the  court-martial  on  his  con- 
duct in  the  action,  which  occurred  several  months 
afterward,  when  he  had  been  exchanged,  Captain 
Pearson  said : 

Hearing,  or  thinking  that  I  heard,  a  call  for  quarter  from 
the  enemy,  I  hailed  to  ask  if  he  had  struck  his  colors.  I 
did  not  myself  clearly  hear  the  reply  ;  but  one  of  my  mid- 
shipmen, Mr.  Hood,  did  hear  it  and  soon  reported  it  to  me. 
It  was  to  the  effect  that  he  was  just  beginning  to  fight. 
This  I  at  first  thought  to  be  mere  bravado  on  his  part.  But 
I  soon  perceived  that  it  was  the  defiance  of  a  man  desperate 
enough,  if  he  could  not  conquer,  to  sink  with  his  ship  along- 
side. * 

*  That  Paul  Jones  was  not  the  only  man  in  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
"  desperate  enough  to  sink  alongside "  is  attested  on  no  less  authority 
than  that  of  Richard  Dale.  In  1801  Commodore  Dale  was  commanding 
our  first  expedition  against  Tripoli,  with  the  old  President,  forty-four,  as 
his  flag-ship.  Putting  in  at  Gibraltar  he  met  Captain  Richard  Harrison 
Pearson  of  the  British  Navy.  This  officer— a  nephew,  we  believe,  of  Sir 
Richard  Pearson— had  been  a  very  young  midshipman  in  the  Serapis,  and 
was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  off  Plamboro'  Head.  Shortly  before 
meeting  Commodore  Dale  at  Gibraltar,  Captain  R.  H.  Pearson  had 
captured  a  French  ship,  and  had  found  on  board  a  copy  of  Benoit- An- 
dre's Memoir  of  Paul  Jones,  published  at  Paris  in  1798,  and  containing  the 
report  which  Jones  made  to  King  Louis  XVI.  In  that  report  Jones 
says:  ''At  a  certain  stage  of  the  action  I  was  advised  to  yield  by  offi- 
cers of  whose  courage  I  had  and  still  have  a  high  opinion.  But,  having 
other  objrrts  in  view,  I  declined  the  advice."  (Jones's  French  origmal  of 
the  words  m  italics  is  :     "'Mais,  me  proposant  les  autres  buts,''  etc.) 

Captain  Richard  Harrison  Pearson  showed  this  to  Commodore  Dale, 
who,  by  the  way,  had  never  before  seen  the  report  of  Jones  to  the  King. 
Dale  said  that  it  was  true ;  only,  so  far  as  he  personally  knew,  but  one 
officer  had  counselled  surrender  at  that  moment.  That  one,  he  said,  waa 
de  Chamillard,  captain  of  the  French  marines ;  himself  badly  wounded. 

"But  I  am  positive,"  pursued  Commodore  Dale,  "  that  no  American 
or  Irish  officer  had  any  more  notion  of  quitting  than  Jones  himself  had. 

Vol.  I.— 15  225 


PAUL   JONES 

Beturning  to  the  narrative  of  Pierre  Gerard : 

At  this  moment  there  was  much  confusion.  The  master- 
at-arms,  John  Burbank,  believing  tliat  the  sliip  was  about 
to  sink,  opened  the  orlop-hatcli  and  let  loose  more  than  two 
hundred  English  prisoners  who  were  confined  below  decks. 
The  Commodore  snapped  his  pistol  in  the  face  of  John  Bur- 
bank,  but  it  missed  lire,  and  he  then  felled  the  master-at- 
arms  to  the  deck  by  striking  him  on  the  head  with  the  pis- 
tol. Fortunatelj^  not  more  than  fifty  of  the  prisoners  had 
yet  gained  the  upper  deck,  and  the  rest  were  held  in  check 
at  the  hatch  by  Midshipman  Potter  and  a  few  men  with 
cutlasses. 

The  Commodore  exclaimed  to  those  who  had  reached  the 
deck  that  the  ship  alongside  was  sinking  ;  to  which  one 
prisoner,  the  master  of  a  merchant  ship  taken  off  Leith,  re- 
torted, *  *  It  is  this  ship  that  sinks  ! ' '  The  Commodore  then 
ordered  all  the  prisoners  on  deck  to  man  the  pumps  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard.  Some  of  them  obeyed,  but  the  one 
who  had  already  spoken  again  cried  out  to  his  comrades, 
'*Do  not  touch  the  pumps!  Let  the  d — d  Yankee  pirate 
sink!" 

I  presented  my  pistol  at  his  head  and  said  to  him  in 
English,  *'  Obey  the  Commodore  !  "  Instead  of  heeding  my 
words  he  grasped  at  my  pistol,  whereupon  I  fired  and  he  fell 
to  the  deck  lifeless.  There  was  no  more  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  prisoners,  and  Mr,  Dale,  the  first  lieutenant, 
without  difficulty  mustered  them  at  the  pumps.* 

Their  view  of  the  case  was  aptly  put  by  our  old  boatswain,  John  Calvin 
Robinson,  of  Philadelphia.  Just  as  Jones  had  retorted  to  Pearson  that 
he  'hadn't  begun  to  fight,'  he  noticed  old  Jack  Robinson  right  at  his 
elbow  and,  in  the  way  of  jolly  banter  he  always  had  in  battle,  sang  out 
to  him  :  '  Hey  !  Jack  !  old  trump  !  What  say  you  to  quitting  ?  '  To 
which  old  Jack  quickly  answered  in  his  low  growl :  '  There's  a  shot 
left  in  the  locker,  sir  ! '  " 

*  .Some  time  after  the  ])attle  the  English  papers  accused  Jones  of  mur- 
dering his  prisoners.  When  these  reports  reached  France,  Jones  (in 
March,  1780)  requested  M.  de  Sartine,  French  Minister  of  Marine,  to  m- 

226 


THE    BATTLE    WITH    THE    SERAPIS 

Pending-  these  events  the  ships  had  passed  from 
Position  No.  7,  through  Positions  No.  8  and  No.  9, 
and  had  begun  to  swing  round  into  Position  No.  10. 
It  was  now  about  half-past  nine  o'clock  and  the  bat- 
tle had  been  raging  two  hours  and  a  quarter.     By 

vestigate  them  ;  which  was  done  by  court  of  inquiry  at  1' Orient.  Among 
the  witnesses  in  this  inquiry  was  Pierre  Gerard.  The  following  is  the 
text  of  his  testimony ;  at  least  the  salient  part  of  it : 

"...  I  was  Orderly  of  the  deck  to  the  Commodore.  The  master-at- 
arms  released  the  English  prisoners  below  and  they  swarmed  up  on  the 
main  deck.  The  Commodore  ordered  them  to  man  the  pumps.  Some  of 
them  refused,  and  one  tried  to  pass  over  into  the  enemy's  ship  along- 
side—the two  ships  being  then  lashed  together.  I  presented  my  pistol  at 
his  head  and  demanded  that  he  obey  the  Commodore.  He  then  cried 
out  in  a  loud  voice,  to  be  heard  by  his  comrades,  '  Don't  touch  the  pumps  ! 
Let  the  d— d  Yankee  pirate  sink ! ' 

"  When  I  had  heard  these  words,  which  I  knew  English  enough  to  com- 
prehend, I  placed  my  pistol  close  to  his  head  and  fired.  He  was  at  once 
dead.  This  overawed  the  others,  and  they  went  to  the  pumps  and 
worked  with  a  will." 

Question,  by  the  Procurateur  :—'' Did  anyone  order  you  to  kill  the 

prisoner?  " 

Answe7- ;— "  No,  sir ;  I  had  no  orders  from  anyone." 

Question  .-—"Was  the  Commodore  near  you  ?  " 

Ansiver  .•— "  Yes,  sir  ;  about  three  steps  away." 

Question  .-—"Why,  then,  did  you  assume  the  responsibility  of  killiBg  a 
prisoner  without  orders,  and  in  the  immediate  presence  of  your  com- 
manding officer  ?  " 

A7iswer  .•— "  Pour  eviter  les  desagrements.  Monsieur  ;  aussi,  pour  d<«- 
courager  les  autres  prisonniers  ;  ainsi  pour  subvenir  au  Commodore  les 
besoins  d'un  devoir  assez  penible  !  "  ["  To  avoid  trouble  ;  also  to  ad- 
monish the  other  prisoners,  and  thus  to  relieve  the  Commodore  of  the 
necessity  of  performing  a  painful  duty."] 

On  the  reorganization  of  the  French  Navy,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution,  Pierre  Gerard  was  made  a  lieutenant  and  afterward  capi- 
taine  de  fregate.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Genereux,  one  of  the  two 
French  ships  that  escaped  at  the  Battle  of  the  Nile.  He  was  second  in 
command  of  the  Neptune  at  Trafalgar.  His  subsequent  career  was  un- 
eventful, and  he  died  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  on  the  retired 
or  pension  list  of  the  French  Navy,  with  the  rank  of  capitaine  de 
Taisseau. 

227 


PAUL   JONES 

this  time  the  enemy  had  abandoned  all  effort  to  stand 
his  upper  or  exposed  decks.  His  upper  tier  of  nine- 
pounders  had  been  silenced  by  the  superior  musketry 
from  the  Richard's  decks  and  tops.  But  his  lower 
tier,  which  the  Richard's  musketry  could  not  reach, 
maintained  its  fire.  The  ships'  sides  being  in  con- 
tact, the  flash  of  the  Serapis's  eicj-hteen-pounders, 
and  their  burning  wads  came  into  the  deserted  gun- 
deck  of  the  Richard  and  soon  set  on  fire  the  mass 
of  wreckage  and  splinters.  In  fact,  fire  was  kin- 
dled on  that  deck  bj^  the  burning  splinters  of  the 
port-lids  of  the  Serapis  when  they  were  blown 
off  at  the  first  discharge  of  her  starboard  broad- 
side. The  flames  gained  considerable  headway, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Lieutenant  Dale  and 
a  small  force  of  the  Richard's  crew,  assisted  by 
some  of  the  prisoners,  to  keep  them  in  check,  and 
they  were  not  completely  subdued  until  after  the 
close  of  the  action.  However,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  meagre  mention  of  this  element  of  the 
struggle  in  the  accounts  of  participants,  the  fire  on 
board  the  Richard  was  not  considered  by  them  the 
chief  source  of  peril.  At  its  worst  it  found  way 
through  the  ceiling  to  the  deck  below  and  reached 
to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  magazine  bulkhead.  But 
there  were  already  five  feet  of  water  in  the  hold,  and 
the  Richard's  men  passed  it  up  through  the  orlop- 
scuttle  in  buckets — actually  using  the  water  that  was 
sinking  the  ship  to  quench  flames  that  threatened  to 
devour  her. 

Meantime  the  men  in  the  Richard's  tops  had  been 
busy,  and  about  ten  o'clock  they  accomplished  a 
feat  which  unquestionably  decided  the  battle.     This 

228 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

affair  is  graphically  described  by  Henry  Gardner  in 
his  narrative.    He  says : 

As  soon  as  the  prisoners  were  subdued  I  went  to  the 
quarter-deck,  where  the  Commodore  informed  me  that  he 
had  broken  the  gunner,  Mr.  Randall,  for  misconduct,  and 
that  I  was  now  acting-gunner  of  the  ship.  I  succeeded  in 
getting  one  of  the  port  nine-pounders  over  to  the  starboard 
side  of  the  quarter-deck,  and  after  firing  two  or  three  shots 
from  it  the  Commodore  directed  me  to  lay  aloft  to  the  main- 
top  and  suggested  to  Lieutenant  Edward  Stack  the  idea  of 
trying  to  drop  hand-grenades  down  through  the  enemy  s 
main  hatch  into  his  lower  tier,  from  our  main  yard-arm, 
which  now  overhung  that  hatch. 

In  obedience  to  this  I  had  a  couple  of  buckets  of  grenades 
whipt  up  into  the  top,  and,  with  Midshipman  Fanning 
and  two  seamen-Jerry  Evans,  of  Nantucket,  and  Peter 
Nolte,  a  Swede,  brave  as  all  Northmen  are-lay  out  on  the 
yard-arm.  Fanning  outboard.  I  next  with  a  slowmatch,  and 
the  two  seamen  carrying  each  a  bucket  of  grenades. 

Fanning  lay  out  to  the  earring.  The  hatch  was  not 
entirely  open,  the  cover  only  having  been  slewed  round, 
probably  by  one  of  our  shot  earlier  in  the  action,  leaving  a 
triangular  opening  about  two  feet  at  the  widest  part.  As 
the  ships  were  rocking  slightly  in  the  swell,  it  took  a  pretty 
good  aim  to  throw  a  grenade  through  so  small  an  opening. 
Still,  Fanning  did  it  at  the  third  trial,  when  a  terrible  ex- 
plosion occurred  in  the  enemy's  lower  tier,  by  which  the 
whole  of  the  hatch  was  blown  open  and  so  much  noise, 
flame,  and  smoke  made  that  we  at  first  thought  it  was  the 

magazine.  , 

We  soon  afterward  learned  that  the  explosion  was  caused 
by  the  powder-monkeys  of  the  enemy  bringing  up  cartridges 
faster  than  they  could  be  used,  and  leaving  them  strung 
along  the  deck  in  the  wake  of  the  guns,  some  of  the  car- 
tridges being  broken  open  and  loose  powder  falling  out  of 

229 


PAUL   JONES 

them.  Nathaniel  Farming's  hand-grenade  had  exploded 
in  the  midst  of  these  cartridges,  firing  the  whole  train. 
Most  of  the  effect  was  from  the  main  hatch  aft.  Not  less 
than  fifty  of  the  enemy's  crew  were  killed  or  crippled  by 
the  explosion,  and  all  the  after  part  of  the  enemy's  star- 
board lower  tier  was  effectually  silenced,  and  the  men  in 
the  forward  division  were  driven  from  their  guns  to  which 
they  were  rallied  again  with  much  difficulty. 

After  the  battle  the  prisoners  said  Avithout  exception 
that  they  had  no  more  stomach  for  fighting  after  the  explo- 
sion and  were  induced  to  return  to  their  guns  and  resume 
firing  only  by  their  strict  discipline  and  the  example  of 
their  first  lieutenant,  who  told  them  that  if  they  would 
hold  out  a  few  minutes  longer  the  Richard  would  surely 
sink. 

The  ships  had  meantime  kept  swinging,  as  indi- 
cated in  Commodore  Jones's  diagram,  until,  about 
ten  o'clock,  they  assumed  Position  No.  11.  Here  the 
Alliance  made  her  second  appearance.  She  had 
made  a  reach  to  the  northward  close-hauled,  and 
then  bore  down  on  the  other  tack,  hauling  up  at 
about  musket-shot  distance  athwart  the  Richard's 
bows  and  the  stern  of  the  Serapis,  where  she  raked 
both  ships  indiscriminately  with  round,  grape,  and 
bar  shot. 

This  manoeuvre  is  described  in  Specification  No. 
16  of  the  charges  preferred  by  Jones  against  Lan- 
dais  as  follows : 

16.  The  Alliance  then  passed  at  a  very  considerable  dis- 
tance along  the  larboard  or  off  side  of  the  Bon  Homme  Rich- 
ard, and,  having  tacked  and  gained  the  wind,  ran  doAvn 
again  to  leeward,  and  in  crossing  the  Richard's  bow  Cap- 
tain Landais  raked  her  with  a  third  broadside,  after  being 

?3Q 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SEKAPIS 

constantly  called  to  from  the  Richard  not  to  fire  but  to  lay 
the  enemy  alongside. 

MidsMpman  John  West  Linthwaite,  in  his  testi- 
mony against  Landais,  said  :  "  .  .  .  Some  of  the 
men  in  the  forecastle  cried  out,  '  The  Alliance  is  rak- 
ing  us  and  has  wounded  Mr.  Caswell,  the  master's 
mate,  with  several  men.'  This  report  was  confirmed 
by  Mr.  Caswell  (whose  wound  was  mortal),  and  who 
declared  with  his  dying  breath  that  he  received  his 
wound  from  the  Alliance." 

Having  delivered  this  broadside  the  Alliance  ran 
off  to  leeward,  and  took  no  further  part  in  the  action. 
Finally,  in  Position  Ko.  11,  as  a  last  resort,  Pearson 
let  go  his  larboard  anchor,  in  the  hope  that  when 
his  *ship  brought  up  with  her  cable,  the  Eichard 
might  drift  clear.     But  this  was  a  vain  hope,  be- 
cause it  was  nearly  calm,  the  sea  smooth,  and  as  the 
anchor  took  and  the  two  ships  swung  to  it  into  Posi- 
tion No.  12,  the  lashings  still   held.     During  this 
period  Jones  had  maintained  his  command  of  the 
enemy's  upper  decks  with  his  musketry  fire  and  he 
had  also  nearly  cut  in  two  the  mainmast  of  the 
Serapis  about  ten  feet  above  deck,  by  the  fire  of  his 
three  nine-pounders  still  serviceable  on  the  quarter- 
deck.    Some  impression  of  the  havoc  wrought  by 
the  Eichard's  musketry  may  be  gained  from  the 
statement  of  Dr.  Bannatyne  in  his  paper  previously 
referred  to.     "  During  the  action,"  he  says,  "  no  less 
than  eleven  men  were  shot  at  our  wheel,  seven  of 
whom  were  killed  outright,  and  all,  without  excep- 
tion, were  struck  by  musket-balls ;  not  one  being 
hit  by  round-shot,  grape,  or  splinters." 

2ni 


TAUL   JONES 

The  closinc;-  scenes  of  the  battle  are  graphically 
described  as  follows  by  Henry  Gardner : 

But  while  the  Commodore  was  paying  such  particular 
attention  to  the  musketry  of  his  French  marines  and  the 
fire  of  his  nine-pounders,  he  was  none  the  less  planning  an 
outcome  by  having  John  Mayrant  muster  a  boarding-party 
of  twenty-five  or  thirty  sailors  who  had  come  up  under  the 
quarter-deck  from  the  abandoned  gun-deck.  As  the  ships 
were  foul  head  and  stern,  this  party  boarding  from  under 
the  break  of  our  quarter-deck  over  the  hammock-nettings 
would  land  in  the  forepart  of  the  enemy's  waist,  at  the 
break  of  his  topgallant  forecastle,  which,  as  I  have  said, 
was  short. 

There  was  a  previously  understood  signal  between  the 
Commodore  and  John  Mayrant,  when  the  rush  of  the 
boarders  should  be  made.  Most  of  Mayrant 's  men,  like 
himself,  were  lately  exchanged  prisoners  of  war  and  had 
no  notion  of  serving  another  term.  So,  their  feelings  as 
they  waited  for  the  order  to  board  the  enemy,  may  be  im- 
agined. Each  of  them  had  a  cutlass  and  two  ship's-pis- 
tols ;  a  few  had  hatchets ;  but  none  of  them  had  pikes 
or  muskets. 

At  last  the  signal  was  given  and  they  went  over  the  rail, 
John  Mayrant  leading.  A  few  of  the  enemy  were  mustered 
under  the  break  of  his  forecastle  to  repel  boarders,  and  al- 
most the  moment  Mayrant's  feet  struck  the  enemy's  deck 
an  English  sailor  thrust  a  sharp  boarding-pike  through 
the  fleshy  part  of  his  right  thigh.  Mayrant,  who,  as  he 
told  me  soon  afterward,  had  a  cocked  pistol  in  his  hand 
as  he  went  over  the  nettings,  shot  this  poor  sailor  in  the 
throat  at  the  very  instant  the  point  of  the  pike  pierced  his 
own  thigh,  the  ball  breaking  the  sailor's  neck  and  killing 
him  instantly.  This,  1  believe,  was  the  last  casualty  of  the 
battle. 

I  humbly  trust  that  such  of  my  readers  as  may  happen 
to  know  the  warmth  of  friendship  between  John  Mayrant 

232 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

and  me  will  pardon  me  if  I  mention  that  this  pike-thrust 
was  by  no  means  his  first  wound  in  the  action.     At  the 
very  beginning  he  had  commanded  the  gun-room  battery  of 
eighteen-pounders  and,  by  the  blowing  up  of  two  of  them 
at  the  first  or  second  fire,  he  had  been  badly  burnt  about 
the  neck  and  face.   Then,  when  that  battery  was  abandoned 
he  took  command  of   the  fore-division  of  the  gun-deck. 
Here  he  was  soon  hit  by  a  grape-shot  over  the  right  portion 
of  the  forehead  that  crushed  the  flesh  and  even  cracked  the 
skull  so  badly   that   he  had  to  be   trepanned    after  the 
battle      But  he  paid  no  attention  to  any  of  these  wounds 
till  all  was  over  ;  and  even  after  the  English  Captain  Pear- 
son  surrendered  to  Mr.  Dale,  our  First  Lieutenant,  on  his 
own  quarter-deck,  Mr.  Dale,  not  noticing  how  badly  May- 
rant  was  hurt,  requested  him  to  escort  Captain  Pearson  on 
board  the  Richard,  which  he  did  ;  and  even  after  that,  he 
remained  on  duty  for  a  considerable  time,  returnmg  on 
board  the  Serapis  and  aidmg  Mr.  Dale  to  handle  the  ship 
and  secure  the  prisoners,  Mr.  Dale  himself  being  so  badly 
wounded  in  one  leg  and  faint  from  loss  of  blood  as  to  be 
no  longer  able  to  keep  on  his  feet.     I  am  sure  I  hazard 
nothing  in  saying  that  John  Mayrant  was  bravest  of  the 
brave.* 

*  Continuing  about  Mayrant  in  his  narrative,  Gardner  relates  as  fol- 
lows- -During  the  voyage  from  the  scene  of  battle  to  the  Texel,  the 
Commodore  niade  out  his  Report.     On  the  1st  of  October   two  days  be- 
fore we  reached  port,  he  summoned  his  junior  officers  and  said  he  de- 
sired to  mention  them  by  name  with  some  reference  to  their  particular 
conduct ;  but  that  all  had  behaved  so  well  he  was  at  loss  to  find  words 
for  individual  mention,  and  asked  if  they  would  be  satisfied  with  general 
praise,  not   singUng  anyone  out.     The  unanimous  reply  ^^^J^^^^ 
would  prefer  to  have  it  so,  but  I  ventured  to  suggest  that  a^  Mr.  May- 
rant  had  led  the  boarders  and  also  as  he  had  stood  up  to  the  end  under 
wounds  to  which  almost  anyone  of  less  desperate  resolution  must  have 
succumbed,  all  his  colleagues  in  the  junior  grades  would  be  glad  to  see 
his  name  particularly  honored  in  the  report.    To  this  all  assented  except 
Mr  Mayrant,  who  declared  with  some  humor  that  he  saw  no  reason  for 
particular  eminence  in  his  being  more  unlucky  than  bis  comrades  with 

23:3 


PAUL   JONES 

Many  years  later,  in  1826,  Gardner  wrote  a  more 
particular  account  *  of  the  close  of  the  battle,  as 
follows : 

Before  it  was  over,  the  Commodore  had  every  Frenchman 
who  was  not  killed  stark  crazy.  At  tirst  it  was  all  he  could 
do  to  get  them  to  stand.  Toward  the  last  he  had  trouble 
to  keep  them  from  boarding  the  enemy  before  he  was  ready. 
It  took  them  several  days  to  cool  off  ! 

Yet,  no  matter  how  violent  his  language  or  how  vehe- 
ment his  example  to  the  French  marines,  the  Commodore 
was  jolly  enough  with  us,  in  English.  Whilst  lashing  the 
ships  together  he  lost  his  cocked  hat  overboard,  and  re- 
gained the  quarter-deck  bareheaded.  Midshipman  John 
West  Linthwaite,  his  aide-of-the-day,  promptly  fetched 
another  hat  from  the  cabin,  and  offered  it  to  Commodore 
Jones. 

"  Never  mind  the  hat.  West,"  he  said,  laughing,  *' Put 
it  back  in  the  cabin.  I'll  light  this  out  in  my  scalp  !  I've 
a  mind  to  peel  my  coat  too  !  And  if  I  could,  I'd  fight  in 
the  buff,t  like  the  gun-deck  hearties  !  " 

regard  to  receiving  wounds,  and  as  that  was  the  only  distinction  he  had 
gained  over  them,  he  did  not  wish  it  to  be  mentioned. 

"This  pleased  the  Commodore  and  he  said:  'John,  I  am  sorrj' you 
take  that  view  of  it,  because  I  would  like  to  adopt  the  expressed  wish 
of  your  comrades  and  mention  your  conduct  particularly.' 

"  At  this  Mayrant  said  :  '  Commodore,  may  it  please  you,  sir,  if  you. 
would  do  a  real  nice  turn  for  me  you  might  at  your  leisure  write  a  letter 
privately  to  my  sister  Josephine,  whom  you  know,  saying  in  it  such 
things  concerning  me  as  you  may  think  deserved.  Then  my  sister  will 
communicate  the  contents  of  the  letter  to  another  young  lady  of  >South 
Carolina,  whose  good  opinion  I  very  much  wish  to  enjoy.' 

"  The  young  lady  of  whom  Mr.  Mayrant  spoke  was  Miss  Florence 
Huger.  Commodore  Jones  wrote  a  letter  to  Miss  Josephine  Mayrant 
shortly  after  our  arrival  in  port,  and  to  the  best  of  my  belief  it  reached 
its  destination," 

*  In  the  Neio  England  Magazine. 

t  In  man-of-war  lingo,  with  the  shirt  off,  or  stripped  to  the  waist. 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

Some  little  time  after  answering  Pearson's  hail,  Commo- 
dore Jones  ordered  Acting  Lieutenant  Mayrant  to  muster  a 
boarding  party  of  American  sailors,  with  cutlasses  and  pis- 
tols, under  the  break  of  the  quarter-deck,  and  be  ready. 
Mayrant,  with  savage  forethought,  picked  out  men  who 
had  suffered  in  English  dungeons.  Observing  now  that 
the  enemy  were  beginning  to  flinch  from  the  forward  part 
of  their  decks,  he  shouted  to  Mayrant,  *'  Now  is  your  time, 
John.     Go  in!" 

With  his  fierce  Huguenot  blood  boiling,  and  a  hoarse 
yell,  "Remember  Portsea  jail!"  the  dauntless  South 
Carolinian  led  his  band  of  Yankee  sailors  over  the  ham- 
mock-netting and  down  into  the  waist  of  the  Serapis, 
encountering  little  resistance,  though  he  was  himself  run 
through  the  fleshy  part  of  the  thigh  by  a  pike  in  the 
hands  of  an  English  sailor.  Mayrant  instantly  killed 
this  sailor  with  a  pistol  shot,  which  was  the  last  casualty 
of  the  action. 

At  the  same  moment  Captain  Pearson,  seeing  the  Ameri- 
cans in  full  possession  of  the  forepart  of  his  ship  and  sweep- 
ing all  before  them  aft  tov/ard  the  quarter-deck,  seized  the 
ensign  halyards  of  the  Serapis  and  struck  his  flag  himself. 
There  was,  however,  so  much  smoke  from  the  fires  raging 
on  both  ships  and  such  confusion  aboard  both  that  the 
situation  was  not  perceived  in  either  ship,  and  the  English 
gunners  on  the  Serapis's  lower  gun-deck  kept  up  their  can- 
nonade, while  the  French  marines  on  the  Richard's  poop- 
deck  and  the  American  sailors  in  the  tops  of  the  latter  con- 
tinued their  musketry,  until  Mayrant,  seeing  Dale  standing 
on  the  Richard's  rail  holding  on  to  the  maintopmast  back- 
stay, called  out  to  him,  ' '  He  has  struck  ;  stop  the  firing. 
Come  on  board  and  take  possession." 

Quickly  accepting  this  welcome  invitation.  Dale  s\vung 
himself  on  to  the  rail  of  the  Serapis,  made  his  way  to  the 
quarter-deck,  stopping  only  to  grasp  the  hand  of  gallant 
young  Mayrant  and  congratulate  him  on  being  the  first 
officer  of  the  Richard  to  perceive  and  announce  the  surren- 

2:J5 


PAUL   JONES 

der  of  the  enemy,  and  then  presented  himself  to  Captain 
Pearson,  saying  : 

*  *  I  have  the  honor,  sir,  to  be  the  first  lieutenant  of  the 
ship  alongside,  which  is  the  American  Continental  ship 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  under  command  of  Commodore 
Paul  Jones.*    What  ship  is  this  ?  " 

**  His  Britannic  Majesty's  late  ship  the  Serapis,  sir,"  was 
the  sad  response,  **and  I  am  Captain  Richard  Pearson." 

"Pardon  me,  sir,"  said  the  American  oflBcer  ;  "in  the 
haste  of  the  moment  I  forgot  to  inform  you  that  my 
name  is  Richard  Dale,  and  I  must  request  you  to  pass 
on  board  the  ship  alongside. ' ' 

The  First  Lieutenant  of  the  Serapis  now  came  up  from 
below,  and,  noticing  Dale's  uniform,  he  asked  Captain 
Pearson  :  * '  Has  the  enemy  struck,  sir  ?  " 

**  No,  sir  ;  I  have  struck,"  was  the  laconic  reply. 

*'  Then  I  will  go  below  and  order  our  men  to  cease  fir- 
ing, ' '  said  the  English  Lieutenant. 

"  Pardon  me,  sir,"  said  Dale  ;  "  I  will  attend  to  that ; 
for  yourself,  please  accompany  Captain  Pearson  on  board 
the  ship  alongside. ' ' 

Pearson  and  his  Lieutenant  then  went  on  board  the 
Richard,  where  Commodore  Jones  received  them  with 
characteristic  courtesy,  f 

*  Captain  Pearson  did  not  need  the  information  Dale  gave  him.  He 
knew  from  the  first  whom  he  had  to  deal  with,  as  indicated  on  pages  11)9 
and  300,  foregoing.  The  day  before  the  battle,  as  soon  as  the  Baltic  con- 
voy was  sighted  steering  for  Bridlington  Bay,  Midshipman  Arthur  Hood, 
of  the  British  Navj\  had  boarded  the  Serapis  from  shore  with  ofiBcial  de- 
spatches informing  Captain  Pearson  that  Jones  was  on  the  coast.  Young 
Hood  was  a  boy  of  sixteen,  nephew  of  Admiral  Lord  Hood,  and,  think- 
ing there  might  be  a  fight  in  sight,  he  volunteered  to  stay  aboard — as 
was  to  be  expected  of  his  breed.  At  this  stage  of  our  narrative  it  seems 
safe  to  assume  that  the  gallant  little  fellow  had  not  been  disappointed  ; 
that  he  had  had  fight  enough  for  even  one  of  the  English  Hoods — for  one 
day,  anyhow. 

t  While  the  main  battle  between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the 
Serapis  raged,  Captain  Cottineau  in  the  Pallas,  chasing  to  leeward,  over- 

230 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

The  act  of  formal  surrender  Jones  describes  in  Lis 
journal  as  follows : 

Captain  Pearson  now  confronted  me,  the  image  of  cha- 
grin and  despair.  He  offered  me  his  sword  with  a  slight 
bow,  but  was  silent.  His  first  lieutenant  followed  suit. 
I  was  sorry  for  both  of  them,  for  they  had  fought  their 
ship  better  and  braver  than  any  English  ship  was  ever 
fought  before,  and  this  fortune  of  war  came  hard  to  them. 
I  wanted  to  speak,  but  they  were  so  sad  and  dignified  in 
their  silence,  I  hardly  knew  what  to  say.  Finally  I  mus- 
tered courage  and  said  as  I  took  the  swords  and  handed 
them  to  Midshipman  Potter  at  my  elbow  :  "  Captain  Pear- 
son, you  have  fought  heroically.  You  have  worn  this 
sword  to  your  own  credit  and  to  the  honor  of  your  service. 
I  hope  your  sovereign  will  suitably  reward  you."  He 
bowed  again,  but  made  no  reply  ;  whereupon  1  requested 
him  and  his  lieutenant  to  accompany  Mr.  Potter  to  my 
cabin. 

hauled  and  brought  to  action  the  British  sloop-of-war.  The  action  began 
at  five  minutes  past  eight  and  was  maintained  until  nine  minutes  past 
nine  p.m.  The  British  sloop-of-war,  finding  she  could  not  escape  from 
the  Pallas  before  the  wind,  hauled  up  to  the  northward  and  westward, 
with  the  evident  purpose  of  making  the  shelter  of  port  But  her  rate  of 
sailing  was  not  enough  superior  to  that  of  the  Pallas  to  get  out  of  gun- 
shot, and  after  a  running  fight  of  one  hour  and  four  minutes  she  struck 
her  colors  ;  proving  to  be  H.  B.  M.  sloop-of-war  the  Countess  of  Scar- 
boro',  mounting  twenty  six-pounders  and  six  four-pounders.  She  had 
been'aletter-of-raarque,  but  was  at  this  time  commanded  by  a  regular 
British  officer,  Captain  William  Piercey,  and  manned  by  a  regular  crew ; 
having  been  hired  by  the  Admiralty  the  previous  spring  for  convoy 

service. 

In  weight  of  metal  and  number  of  men  she  was  of  a  little  less  than  two- 
thirds  the  force  of  the  Pallas,  and  her  defence  for  over  an  hour  was  cred- 
itable to  her  commander  and  crew.  Her  loss  in  the  action  was  consider- 
able, but  no  detailed  account  of  it  is  extant.  The  loss  of  the  Pallas  was 
three  killed  and  fourteen  wounded.  Neither  vessel  was  much  damaged 
in  hull  or  rigging. 

237 


PAUL   JONES 

Several  of  Jones's  biographers,  including  even  the 
usually  accurate  Commodore  Alexander  Slidell  Mac- 
kenzie, put  into  Pearson's  mouth,  as  he  was  in  the 
act  of  delivering  his  sword,  the  words,  "  Sir,  it  is 
with  reluctance  that  I  hand  this  sword  to  a  man  who 
fights  with  a  halter  round  his  neck."  * 

A  laj'man  or  a  landsman,  unfamiliar  with  naval 
etiquette,  might,  perhaps,  be  forgiven  for  even  so 
intrinsically  incredible  a  story ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
comprehend  that  it  should  have  been  viewed  with 
credence  by  a  naval  officer  of  the  rank  and  experi- 
ence of  Commodore  Mackenzie.  The  stor3^  became 
current  soon  after  the  battle,  being  first  published 
in  the  London  papers  and  from  them  copied  in  the 
American  journals.  While  Jones  was  in  New  York, 
in  September,  1787,  the  Courant  printed  this  story 
as  a  clipping  from  another  paper.  Jones  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  editor  which  was  published  and  i)re- 
served  in  a  scrap-book  of  the  Gardner  Collection. 
Its  text  is  as  follows  : 

New  York,  September  7,  1787. 

Sir  :  I  have  read  in  your  esteemed  journal,  with  much 
regret,  a  statement  copied  from  a  paper  printed  elsewhere 
to  the  effect  that  Captain  Richard  Pearson,  when  tender- 
ing his  sword  to  me  about  eleven  o'clock  P.M.  September 
23,  1779,  observed  :  "It  is  with  reluctance  that  I  yield  this 
sword  to  a  man  who  tights  with  a  halter  round  his  neck  !  " 

Permit  me  to  assure  you,  sir,  upon  my  honor,  that  noth- 
ing of  the  kind  occurred.  It  could  not,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  have  occurred.  The  statement  ascribes  to  Cap- 
tain Pearson  language  most  grossly  unoflicerlike  and  most 
painfully  ungentlemanlike  at  a  moment  and  on  an  occa- 

*  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Paul  Jones,  page  195. 
238 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

sion  rigorously  demanding  the  most  deHcate  courtesy  of 
intercourse. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  adversity  of  fate  to  Cap- 
tain Pearson  in  the  fortunes  of  war,  he  was  and  is  an  of- 
ficer of  the  first  grade  in  personal  courage  and  professional 
skill,  and  a  gentleman  without  reproach.  Therefore,  the 
relation  I  at  one  time  held  with  him  makes  it  my  duty  to 
defend  his  reputation  as  an  ofiicer  and  gentleman  when 
assailed  in  his  absence. 

The  truth  is  this  :  When  Captain  Pearson  tendered  his 
sword  to  me  he  simply  bowed  and  did  not  speak.  Deem- 
ing it  the  part  of  politeness  to  say  something  that  might 
assuage  the  bitterness  of  his  feelings,  I  said  :  ''Sir,  you 
have  defended  your  ship  with  credit  to  yourself  and  honor 
to  your  service.  Allow  me,  sir,  to  express  the  hope  that 
your  sovereign  may  suitably  reward  you." 

When  1  had  said  this  Captain  Pearson  bowed  profound- 
ly, but  spoke  no  word.  I  then  requested  Mr.  Thomas  Pot- 
ter, of  Baltimore,  one  of  my  midshipmen,  to  escort  Captain 
Pearson  and  one  of  his  lieutenants  who  was  with  him,  to 
my  cabin.  During  the  whole  ceremony  Captain  Pearson 
was  mute.     He  did  not  utter  one  word  or  audible  sound. 

Now,  permit  me,  sir,  to  explain  the  possible  origin  of 
the  story  :  When  Captain  Pearson  was  exchanged  and  re- 
turned to  England  he  underwent  the  formal  court-martial 
usual  in  such  cases.  I  obtained  a  copy  of  the  record  of  his 
court-martial  as  printed  in  the  Official  Chronicle.  In  his 
statement  to  the  court,  Captain  Pearson  said  :  **  The  ex- 
traordinary and  unheard-of  desperate  stubbornness  of  my 
adversary  had  so  depressed  the  spirits  of  my  people  that, 
when  more  than  two  hundred  had  been  slain  or  disabled 
out  of  three  hundred  and  seventeen  all  told,  I  could  not 
urge  the  remnant  to  further  resistance." 

Then  the  judge  advocate  asked:  **To  what.  Captain 
Pearson,  do  you  attribute  this  extraordinary  and  unheard- 
of  desperate  stubbornness  ?  " 

Captain  Pearson's  reply  was  :  "  I  do  not  know,  sir,  un- 

239 


PAUL   JONES 

less  it  was  because  our  government,  in  its  inscrutable  wis- 
dom, had  allowed,  if  it  did  not  cause,  the  impression  to 
be  spread  abroad  that  Captain  Jones  and  his  crew  Avould 
be  held  pirates,  or  at  least,  not  entitled  to  the  usages  of 
civilized  war." 

To  that  the  judge  advocate  rejoined  :  "In  other  words, 
Captain  Pearson,  you  mean  they  fought  like  men  fighting 
with  ropes  round  their  necks." 

"  That  might  be  a  way  to  state  what  I  mean,"  said  Cap- 
tain Pearson.* 

There  was  no  impropriety  in  this  language  when  and 
where  it  was  uttered.  On  the  contrary,  Captain  Pearson 
unquestionably  intended  to  convey,  in  a  diplomatic  manner, 
his  disapproval  of  the  policy  of  his  Government  to  which 

*  There  was  a  good  deal  more  of  interesting  matter  in  the  record  of 
the  Pearson  court-mar tiaL  Following  right  on  from  the  point  where 
Jones  stops  quoting,  the  examination  proceeded  : 

Question  by  a  member:  "It  has  been  stated,  Captain  Pearson,  that 
a  large  proportion  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard's  crew  were  Frenchmen. 
Is  that  true?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  sir.  From  my  observations  while  in  captivity,  I 
conclude  that  more  than  half  were  French — or,  at  any  rate,  not  Ameri- 
cans. But  the  ofificers  were  all  Americans  except  two,  the  commandant 
and  the  lieutenant  of  marines. " 

Question:  "In  your  experience,  Captain,  has  it  been  customary  for 
French  seamen  to  exhibit  the  extraordinary  and  unheard-of  desperate 
stubbornness  in  action  of  which  you  have  spoken  ?  " 

Answer:  "No,  sir.  But  to  be  perfectly  clear  in  this  case  I  must  in- 
form the  Honorable  Court  that,  long  before  the  close  of  the  action,  it  be- 
came clearly  apparent  that  the  American  ship  was  dominated  by  a  com- 
manding will  of  the  most  unalterable  resolution,  and  there  could  be  no 
doubt  that  the  intention  of  her  commander  was,  if  he  could  not  conquer, 
to  sink  alongside.  And  this  desperate  resolve  of  the  American  Captain 
was  fully  shared  and  fiercely  seconded  by  every  one  of  his  ship's  com- 
pany without  respect  of  nationality.  And,  if  the  Honorable  Court  may 
be  pleased  to  entertain  an  expression  of  opinion,  I  will  venture  to  say 
that  if  French  seamen  can  ever  be  induced  by  their  own  officers  to  fight 
in  their  own  ships  as  Captain  Jones  appears  to  have  induced  them  to 
fight  in  his  American  ship,  the  future  burdens  of  His  Majesty's  Navy 
will  be  heavier  than  they  have  heretofore  been." 

240 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

he  had  reference.  In  that  view  it  was  creditable  to  him. 
The  record  of  the  court-martial  soon  found  its  way  into  the 
English  newspapers,  gossip  of  coffee-houses  and  the  like, 
and  ultimately  became  distorted  into  the  absurd  shape 
now  being  considered. 

Trusting  you  will  enable  m.e  to  have  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  the  above  true  statement  in  the  print  of  your  es- 
teemed columns,  and  also  to  have  the  pleasure  of  forwai'd- 
ing  a  copy  of  it  to  Captain  Pearson, 
I  remain, 

Very  Respectfully, 

Your  Obedient  Servant, 
Paul  Jois^es, 

Commodore  U.  tS.  Max/y. 

Another  anecdote  was  to  the  effect  that  when 
Jones  had  formally  received  Pearson's  sword  in 
token  of  surrender,  he  handed  it  back,  with  a  com- 
plimentary remark.  This  ^ioxj  was  inaccurate, 
though  based  upon  fact.  Jones  took  the  sword  that 
Pearson  surrendered  to  him  and  kept  it.  The  day 
after  the  battle,  finding-  it  impossible  to  keep  the 
Kichard  afloat,  Jones  took  possession  of  Pearson's 
cabin  in  the  Serapis.  This  cabin  had  a  spare  state- 
room which  Jones  requested  Pearson  to  occuxjy. 
But  the  latter  politely  declined,  saying*  he  would 
prefer  to  mess  with  the  other  officers  of  his  ship,  who 
were  confined  in  the  gun-room.  Jones  then  request- 
ed Pearson  to  make  a  list  of  his  private  property  in 
the  cabin  as  distinguished  from  official  or  public 
property,  so  that,  when  he  should  be  exchanged  or 
paroled,  it  might  be  returned  to  him. 

Captain  Pearson  made  oub  a  list,  and  when  hand- 
ing it  to  Commodore  Jones  he  said  that  he  omitted 
Vol.  I.— 16  241 


PAUL   JONES 

one  leather  case  and  one  box,  containing  respec- 
tively a  jewelled  sword  and  a  case  of  gold-mounted 
pistols  that  had  been  presented  to  him  by  the  Cor- 
poration of  the  city  of  Bristol.  "As  they  are 
weapons,  sir,"  he  said,  "you  have  a  right  to  regard 
them  as  a  forfeit  to  the  fortunes  of  war,  and  I  have 
therefore  omitted  them  from  the  list  of  my  private 
property." 

"  Add  them  to  the  list,  sir,"  replied  Commodore 
Jones  ;  "  I  have  no  concern  with  any  side-arms  except 
those  you  wore  in  action  as  insignia  of  your  rank. 
Those  you  have  handed  to  me  in  due  forpi  and  I  will 
retain  them  officially.  But  the  other  weapons  j^ou 
mention  represent  to  you  a  recognition  of  your 
merit  as  an  officer  and  gentleman  by  your  fellow 
countrymen,  and  could,  therefore,  be  of  no  value  to 
any  other  officer  and  gentleman."  *  Captain  Pear- 
son then  added  them  to  his  list. 

It  would,  we  think,  be  impossible  to  improve  upon 
Nathaniel  Tanning's  description  of  the  situation  im- 
mediately after  the  battle.     Ho  says  : 

The  battle  was  over,  but  by  no  means  the  trouble  ended. 
The  time  was  nearly  midnight,  but  the  full  moon  overhead 
in  a  cloudless  sky  made  it  almost  as  light  as  day.  Captain 
Jones  instantly  began  to  survey  his  ship  as  soon  as  she 
drifted  clear  from  the  Serapis.  He  found  that  she  had  seven 
feet  of  water  in  her  hold  and  was  beghming  to  choke  some 
of  the  pumps,  though  he  had  them  double-manned  by  his 
English  prisoners.  She  had  already  sunk  so  much  that 
many  shot-holes  were  below  the  water-line  and  could  not 
be  plugged. 

Meantime  Dale  and   Mayrant  occupied  themselves  on 

*  Dr.  Bannatyne'fl  paper. 
243 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

board  the  Serapis  with  silencing  her  lower-deck  battery, 
from  which  at  least  two  or  three  eighteen-pound  shots  were 
fired  into,  or  rather  through,  the  Richard's  gun-deck  after 
Captain  Pearson  and  his  lieutenant  had  reached  her  upper 
deck  as  prisoners.  As  soon  as  all  firing  was  silenced  and 
victory  was  complete,  Jones  ordered  his  men  to  cut  the  lash- 
ings that  held  the  fluke  of  the  Serapis's  anchor  in  the  Rich- 
ard's mizzen  chains,  and  the  ships  at  once  drifted  clear. 
The  light  wind  that  had  prevailed  during  the  battle  died 
out  and  it  fell  dead  calm. 

The  condition  of  the  Richard  at  this  moment  can  hardly 
be  imagined,  much  less  described.  Nearly  sixty  of  her 
crew  were  stretched  dead  about  her  decks.  More  than  a 
hundred  and  twenty  others  lay  writhing  and  gasping  with 
desperate  wounds,  to  which  the  good  old  surgeon,  Dr. 
Laurens  Brooke,  unassisted  as  he  was,  could  give  but  scant 
attention.  About  forty  of  her  surviving  or  uninjured  crew 
had  followed  Lieutenant  Mayrant  into  the  Serapis,  and 
were  in  charge  of  the  prize.  Not  more  than  one  hundred 
unwounded  men  of  her  own  crew  remained  to  manage  the 
Richard  and  to  hold  in  check  the  two  hundred  or  more 
prisoners  on  board.  Nearly  every  twelve-pounder  gun  in 
the  starboard  broadside  was  dismounted  or  disabled.  The 
starboard  side  of  the  ship,  that  had  been  in  the  wake  of  the 
Serapis's  lower  tier  of  eighteen-pounders,  was  simply  driven 
in  ;  so  that,  but  for  a  few  frames,  futtocks  and  stanchions 
that  still  remained  intact,  the  whole  gun-deck  would  have 
fallen  through.  And  even  what  the  shot  had  spared,  the 
flames  were  at  this  moment  devouring. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Richard  when,  sinking  and 
on  fire,  she  was  still  the  conqueror  and  could  by  signal  com- 
mand the  ship  that  had  destroyed  her  !  Nothing  like  this 
has  ever  been  known  in  the  annals  of  naval  warfare.    .    .    . 

The  removal  of  the  Richard's  wounded  to  the  Serapis 
consumed  much  time ;  nearly  all  day,  in  fact,  because  the 
poor  fellows  had  to  be  handled  tenderly,  and  but  three 
boats  remained  available.     Fortunately  it  had  now  fallen 

243 


PAUL   JOXES 

dead  calm  and  the  sea  was  without  a  ripple.  Had  there 
been  any  v/ind  or  seaway  the  Richard  must  have  foundered 
immediately  and  the  scene  become  one  of  unheard-of  horror. 
However,  the  wounded  were  all  transferred  during  the  day, 
except  two,  who  died  in  the  boats. 

The  unwounded  prisoners  were  his  next  care.  Captain 
Cottineau  took  some  of  them  into  the  Pallas  ;  a  few  were 
put  into  the  Countess  of  Scarboro',  Cottineau's  prize  ;  the 
rest  went  over  to  the  Serapis.  Jones  now  told  his  crew  to 
get  on  board  the  Serapis,  retaining  only  a  few  of  the  Pal- 
las's  men  in  the  Richard,  and  busied  himself  in  saving  the 
ship's  papers.  For  his  own  part  Jones  saved  only  a  few 
souvenirs  from  his  feminine  friends  in  Paris,  his  Journal, 
and  a  bag  of  linen. 

In  his  journal  Jones  says  with  terse  eloquence  : 

No  one  was  now  left  aboard  the  Richard  but  our  dead. 
To  them  I  gave  the  good  old  ship  for  their  coffin,  and  in 
her  they  found  a  sublime  sepulchre.  She  rolled  heavily  in 
the  long  swell,  her  gun-deck  awash  to  the  port-sills,  settled 
slowly  by  the  head,  and  sank  peacefully  in  about  forty 
fathoms. 

The  ensign-gaff,  shot  away  in  the  action,  had  been  fished 
and  put  in  place  soon  after  firing  ceased,  and  our  torn  and 
tattered  flag  was  left  flying  when  we  abandoned  her.  As  she 
plunged  down  by  the  head  at  the  last,  her  taffrail  momen- 
tarily rose  in  the  air ;  so  the  very  last  vestige  mortal  eyes 
ever  saw  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  the  defiant  wav- 
ing of  her  unconquered  and  unstricken  flag  as  she  went 
down.*    And,  as  I  had  given  them  the  good  old  ship  for 

*  The  "unconquered  and  unstricken  flag  "  that  went  down  with  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  was  the  same  one  which  the  girls  of  Portsmouth  made 
from  slices  of  their  best  silk  gowns,  and  presented  to  Jones  to  hoist  on 
the  Ranger,  July  4,  1777,  and  he  considered  it  his  personal  property — or, 
perhaps,  the  property  of  the  girls  who  made  it — intrusted  to  his  keeping. 
On  relinquishing  command  of  the  Ranger  in  1778,  he  kept  this  fiag  with 

344 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  SERAPIS 

their  sepulchre,  I  now  bequeathed  to  my  immortal  dead 
the  flag  they  had  so  desperately  defended  for  their  winding 
sheet ! 

him,  and  used  it  at  I'Orient  when  he  *'  broke  his  pennant  *'  to  commission 
the  old  Richard.  It  was  made  by  a  ''  quilting  party,"  according  to  speci- 
fications which  Jones  furnished.  The  thirteen  white  stars  in  the  ''New 
Constellation  "  were  cut  from  the  bridal-dress  in  which  Helen  Seavey  had 
been  wedded  in  May,  1777,  to  a  young  officer  of  the  New  Hampshire  Line. 
Of  the  "  quilting  party  "  who  made  that  flag  we  can  find  but  five  names — 
Mary  Langdon,  Caroline  Chandler,  Helen  Seavey,  Augusta  Peirce,  and 
Dorothy  Hall  (niece  of  Elijah  Hall,  second  lieutenant  of  the  Ranger). 

This  was  the  "first  edition  "  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  that  Europe  ever 
saw ;  the  first  to  be  saluted  by  the  guns  of  a  European  naval  power ; 
but,  far  beyond  that,  and  beyond  aaything,  it  was  the  first  and  the  last 
flag  that  ever  went  down  or  ever  will  go  down  flying  on  the  ship  that 
conquered  and  captured  the  ship  that  sunk  her. 

When  Jones  returned  to  this  country  in  the  Ariel,  February,  1781,  he 
found  Miss  Langdon  a  guest  of  the  Ross  family,  whose  house  was  always 
his  horne  when  in  Philadelphia.  By  way  of  apology  he  explained  to  Miss 
Langdon  that  his  most  ardent  desire  had  been  to  bring  that  flag  home  to 
America,  with  all  its  glories,  and  give  it  back  untarnished  into  the  fair 
hands  that  had  given  it  to  him  nearly  four  years  before.  "But,  MLsa 
Mary,"  he  said,  "I  couldn't  bear  to  strip  it  from  the  poor  old  ship  in  her 
last  agony,  nor  could  I  deny  to  my  dead  on  her  decks,  who  had  given  their 
lives  to  keep  it  flying,  the  glory  of  taking  it  with  them." 

"You  did  exactly  right,  Commodore!"  exclaimed  Miss  Langdon. 
"  That  flag  is  just  where  we  all  wish  it  to  be— flying  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  over  the  only  ship  that  ever  sunk  in  victory.  If  you  had  taken  it 
from  her  and  brought  it  back  to  us,  we  would  hate  you  I " 


245 


CHAPTER  X 
A  DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

The  situation  of  Commodore  Jones  after  the  Rich- 
ard had  sunk  almost  baffles  description.  The  Alli- 
ance, obedient  to  the  whim  of  the  now  infuriated 
Landais,  had  deserted  him  altog-etlier ;  not  even 
assisting-  to  remove  the  wounded  from  her  sinking- 
consort  or  offering  to  take  on  board  any  part  of  the 
prisoners.  Dastardly  as  had  been  the  conduct  of  the 
wretched  Landais  during-  the  battle,  his  behavior  after 
Jones  had  won  the  victory  was  even  more  criminal. 
At  this  distance  and  in  view  of  modern  naval  knowl- 
edge and  es2yi^it  de  corps,  the  most  amazing  feature 
of  the  whole  affair  is  the  fact  that  officers  like  James 
Arthur  Degge,  first  lieutenant ;  John  Buckley, 
master ;  James  Lynde,  third  lieutenant,  and  Morris 
Park,  captain  of  marines  in  the  Alliance,  could  have 
obeyed  the  orders  of  such  an  obvious  traitor  or  cow- 
ard as  Landais  was,  or  that  they  did  not  at  once 
overpower  or  put  him  in  irons  or  shoot  him  at  all 
hazards  on  the  first  unmistakable  development  of  his 
intention. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  desertion  of  Landais  in  the 
Alliance  left  Jones  with  only  the  Serapis,  the  Pallas, 
the  Scarboro',  which  the  latter  had  captured,  and  the 
little  brig  Vengeance ;  all  close  to  a  hostile  coast, 
and  two  of  the  four  ships  seriously  disabled ;  the 

2iG 


A   DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

Serapis  having  no  mainmast,  and  tlie  Scarboro'  con- 
siderably crippled.  ,     „.  ,      ,  ,     ,        ,        , 
When  the  action  began  the  Richard  had  on  board 
two  hundred  and  twelve  English  prisoners  previous- 
ly taken     Of  these  one  had  been  killed  by  Pierre 
Gerard  as  already  related,  leaving  two  hundred  and 
eleven  to  be  taken  care  of.     Of  the  Richard's  crew 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty-three,  all  hands  in 
action,  sixty-seven  had  been  killed,  and  these  sank 
■with  the  ship,  leaving  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  to 
be  taken  care  of ;  and  of  these  one  hundred  and  six 
were  badly  wounded.     Of  the  Serapis's  crew  of  three 
hundred  and  seventeen  combatants  (exclusive    ot 
eio-ht,  described  by  Captain  Pearson  as  "non-com- 
baUnt,"  and  seven  "  on  the  sick-list "),  eighty-seven 
had  been  killed  outright,  and  were  buried  overboard 
in  the  sea,  leaving  two  hundred  and  forty-five  to  be 
cared  for,  and  of  these  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
were  wounded,  thirteen  of  them  mortally,  who  died 
between  the  end  of  the  battle  and  the  arrival  of  the 
squadron  in  the  Texel. 

It  therefore  appears  that,  after  the  Eichard  had 
gone  down,  the  remnant  of  her  crew  that  manned  tlje 
Serapis  could  muster  only  one  hundred  and  fifty 
still  fit  for  duty,  many  of  whom  had  suffered  slight 
wounds     Upon  these  one  hundred  and  fifty  officers 
and  men  devolved  the  duty  of  handling  a  ship  crip- 
pled by  the  loss  of  her  mainmast,  of  guarding  the 
two  hundred  and  eleven  English  prisoners  that  had 
been  in  the  Eichard  before  the  action  began,  together 
with  one  hundred  and  eleven  who  remained  unhurt 
of  the  Serapis's  surrendered  crew;  and  the  duty  ot 
caving  tor  one  hundred  and  six  of  their  own  wounded 

247 


PAUL   JONES 

and  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  of  the  wounded 
enemy.  When  the  Richard  sank,  and  after  the 
enemy's  eig-hty-seven  dead  had  been  thrown  over- 
board, there  were  on  board  the  Serapis  seven  hun- 
dred and  twelve  souls,  as  follows  : 

Remaining  crew  of  the  Richard  for  duty 150 

Wounded  of  the  Richard's  crew lOG 

Remaining  crew  of  the  Serapis,  unwounded Ill 

Wounded  of  the  Serapis 134 

Prisoners  previously  taken  by  the  Richard 211 

712* 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  September 
Captain  Cottineau  of  the  Pallas  took  on  board  his 
ship  one  hundred  of  the  Bichard's  prisoners  who 
were  not  wounded  ;  which  was  all  he  could  make 
room  for  in  his  small  ship,  having*  already  on  board 
sixty  prisoners  taken  from  merchant  prizes  and  one 
hundred  and  nine  survivors  of  the  Countess  of  Scar- 
boro's  crew. 

Among  the  prisoners  transferred  from  the  Serapis 
to  the  Pallas  in  the  morning  of  September  25th  was 
Captain  Pearson.  The  cause  of  this  transfer  is  most 
delicately  and  graphically  told  by  Dr.  Bannatyne 
in  his  paper  already  referred  to.    The  Doctor  says  : 

While  the  transfer  of  prisoners  to  the  Pallas  was  being 
made,  in  order  to  relieve  the  almost  suffocating  condition 
on  board  the  Serapis,  Commodore  Jones  called  me  to  one 
side  and  said  :  "  Doctor,  I  can  see,  as  I  presume  you  can, 
that  Captain  Pearson  is  ill  at  ease  and  gloomy  on  board 
this  ship.    We  can  understand  that.    With  a  viev/  to  re- 

*See  Appendix  for  complete  roster  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and 
also  for  partial  ro.iter  of  the  Serapis. 

243 


A    DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

lieving  his  feelings  as  much  as  is  in  my  power  to  do,  I  have 
requested  Captain  Cottlneau  to  invite  him  to  be  his  guest 
on  board  the  Pallas  until  we  can  reach  port.  As  you  know, 
I  have  already  asked  him  to  be  my  own  guest  and  he  has 
declined,  saying  that  he  would  rather  mess  with  his  subor- 
dinate officers,  whom  I  have  quartered  in  the  gun-room  of 
this  ship.  But  that  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  proper.  I 
therefore  ask  you  to  use  your  inliuence  with  Captain  Pear- 
son to  induce  him  to  accept  Captain  Cottineau's  invitation 
to  share  his  cabin  in  the  Pallas.  You  can  understand,  as  I 
do,  that  such  an  arrangement  would  relieve  both  Captain 
Pearson  and  me  of  much  embarrassment. ' ' 

I  at  once  communicated  to  Captain  Pearson  what  Com- 
modore Jones  had  said  to  me,  Avith  the  result  that  Captain 
Pearson  assented  to  the  proposition  and  went  with  Captain 
Cottineau  in  his  gig  on  board  the  Pallas,  requesting  me  to 
pay  his  most  feeling  compliments  to  Commodore  Jones, 
with  the  assurance  that  his  delicate  sense  in  the  matter  was 
fully  appreciated. 

As  all  of  our  wounded  remained  on  board  the  Serapis,  it 
was  of  course  necessary  that  I  and  my  assistant,  Dr.  Edgei*- 
ly,  should  stay  Avith  them,  and  we,  being  non-combatants, 
shared  with  Dr.  Brooke,  of  the  late  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
the  mess  of  Commodore  Jones.  In  fact,  I  should  say  that 
all  the  commissioned  officers  messed  with  the  Commodore, 
there  being  no  wardroom  mess.  At  least  but  one  officer's 
mess  was  kept  up  after  the  battle  till  we  gained  port. 

From  the  end  of  the  battle,  about  11  p.m.,  Sep- 
tember 23d,  till  the  early  morning  of  September 
25th,  when  the  Bichard  sank,  the  wind,  which  was 
very  light,  blew  from  the  west  and  steadily  drifted 
the  crippled  ships  off  shore.  There  was  also  consid- 
erable fog  at  intervals  during  this  period ;  all  of 
which  was  fortunate,  as  the  lightness  of  the  wind 
detained  the  Edgar,  of  seventj-four  guns,  all  day  the 


PAUL   JOXES 

24tli  off  the  moutli  of  the  Humber,  and  prevented 
her  from  finding  Commodore  Jones,  for  whom  she 
was  in  search  ;  as  were  half  a  dozen  other  large  men- 
of-war  along  the  east  coast.  Jones's  meridian  ob- 
servation of  September  25th  show^ed  that  the  squad- 
ron was  in  lat.  54°  05'  N.,  long.  1°  47'  E. ;  which 
meant  that  the  ships  had  drifted  in  the  thirty- six 
hours  about  seventy  miles  nearly  due  eastward  from 
Flamboro'  Head. 

Nathaniel  Fanning's  description  of  the  forlorn 
voyage  that  now  ensued  is  much  better  than  any 
pen  of  our  time  could  produce,  because  it  was  writ- 
ten by  an  able  man  who  saw  what  he  chronicled. 
He  says : 

The  wind  came  on  to  blow  from  south-southwest  in  the 
forenoon  of  the  25th — thirty-six  hours  after  the  battle  ended. 
As  the  port  which  Jones  desired  to  make  was  Dunkirk, 
France,  almost  exactly  south  from  where  he  then  was,  this 
was  a  head  wind,  against  which  the  Serapis,  crippled  as  her 
spars  were,  could  not  beat  at  all.  The  only  fortunate  thing 
about  it  was  that  the  southwester  blew  him  oS  the  English 
coast  into  the  North  Sea,  and  to  that  extent  gave  him  a 
chance  of  escape  from  pursuing  squadrons. 

So  he  let  his  battered  ships  go  off  northeast,  nearly  before 
the  wind,  during  the  25th  and  2Gth,  meantime  exliausling 
the  powers  of  the  feeble  remnant  of  his  crew  to  rig  jury- 
spars  and  get  things  shipshape.  On  the  27th  it  came  on  to 
blow  hard  from  the  southwest,  which  drove  him  over  toward 
the  coast  of  Denmark.  This  gale  continued  until  evening 
of  the  29th,  when  the  wind  shifted  to  northwest,  and  he 
made  an  effort  to  shape  a  course  for  Dunkirk  again.  Dur- 
ing this  time  the  scenes  on  board  beggared  description. 
There  were  but  few  cots  and  not  even  enough  hammocks 
for  the  wounded,   so  that  many  of  them  had  to  lie  on  the 

250 


A    DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

hard  decks,  where  they  died  in  numbers  night  and  day. 
The  British  officers,  with  watches  o£  their  men.  took  almost 
the  whole  charge  of  the  wounded,  and  so  left  us  free  to  work 
the  lip.    Our  surgeon.  Dr.  Brooke,  and  Drs.  Bannatyne  and 
Ed-erly,  the  English  surgeons,  performed  prodigious  work, 
and  by  their  skill  and  ceaseless  care  saved  many  hves.     In 
the  common  danger  enmity  was   forgotten   and  everyone 
*vho  could  walk  worked  with  a  will  to  save  the  slnp  and 
^heir  own  lives.     Finally,  on  the  fifth  day,  the  wind  abated 
and  hauled  to  the  northwest,  when  we  -"  <i°™  *-  ^^^ 
coast  of  Holland,  and  made  the  entrance  of  the  Helder 
through  which  we  made  our  way  into  the  Texel,  where  ^^ 
anchored  about  3  P.M.,  October  3,  finding  there  the  A  li- 
ance  and  Vengeance,  which  came  in  the  day  before.     Dunng 
tCefew  day;  including  those  not  wounded  -ho  d.ed  from 
sheer  exhaustion,  we  buried  not  less  than  forty  of  the  two 
crews      Neither  the  Commodore  nor  the    brave    Biitish 
officers  ever  slept  more  than  two  or  three  hours  at  a  time 
and  were  sometimes  up  for  two  days  at  a  time.     As  the 
Mas  being  not  much  hurt,  and  her  pri.e  (the  Countess 
rfSca;boro>)  could  work  to  windward,  the  Commodore  had 
often  signalled  them  to  bear  up  for  port  and  leave  hun  to 
take  care  of  himself ;  to  which  the  good  Captain  Cottmeau 
always  replied  that  he  preferred  to  stand  by. 

The  arrival  of  Commodore  Jones  in  tlie  Texel  with 
his  battered  and  storm-beaten  ships  and  his  mangled 
crew  did  little  else  than  plunge  him  in  new  troubles. 
He  had,  first,  to  suppress  the  mutiny  of  Landais 
and,  second,  to  ward  off  the  diplomatic  hostility  of 
the  British  Minister,  Sir  Joseph  Torke,  who.  wit  im 
ten  days  from  the  date  of  his  anchorage,  demanded 
TthTnameof  King  George  that  the  States-Gen- 
eral  of  Holland  should  give  Paul  Jones   and  his 
crew  up  to  the  officers  of  the  King  as  "rebels  and 


PAUL   JOXES 

pirates,"  and,  with  them,  surrender  the  ships  they 
had  captured. 

Jones  met  both  difificulties,  with  characteristic  en- 
ergy, somewhat  more  than  half  way.  Considering  that 
his  first  duty  was  to  restore  discipline  in  his  squad- 
ron, he,  under  date  of  October  3d,  theday  of  anchor- 
age, forwarded  his  official  report  to  Dr.  Franklin, 
and  with  it  a  preliminary  draft  of  his  charges  and 
specifications  against  Landais.  He  then,  or  within 
a  day  or  two,  issued  a  formal  order  suspending  Lan- 
dais from  command  of  the  Alliance  and  directing 
the  first  lieutenant  of  that  ship,  James  Arthur 
Degge,  to  take  command. 

Landais  at  first  aifected  to  treat  this  order  with 
contempt.  Jones  then  made  it  peremptory  and  ac- 
companied it  with  a  message,  which  Captain  Cotti- 
neau  of  the  Pallas  undertook  to  deliver  in  person, 
saying  that  unless  the  order  should  be  at  once 
obeyed,  he  (Jones)  would  be  under  the  painful  ne- 
cessity of  boarding  the  Alliance  and  carrying  it  into 
effect  by  means  of  force,  within  twenty -four  hours. 

Landais  made  no  response  to  this,  so  far  as  Jones 
was  concerned;  but  he  peremptorily  challenged 
Captain  Cottineau  for  what  he  termed  the  affront  of 
bearing  such  a  message  to  him.  Landais  sent  this 
challenge  after  Cottineau  had  left  the  Alliance  to  go 
on  board  his  own  ship,  the  Pallas ;  and  early  the 
next  morning,  considerably  before  the  hour  when 
he  might  expect  Jones  himself  on  board  the  Alli- 
ance to  enforce  his  order  in  i^erson,  Landais  left 
the  ship  and  went  on  shore  at  the  Holder,  taking 
with  him  much  of  his  personal  baggage.  It  was 
evident  from  this  action  tliat  Landais  had  no  desire 

252 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

to  confront  Jones  on  board  his  ship  under  the  con- 
ditions the  latter  had  laid  down.  Promptly  at  the 
expiration  of  the  twenty -four  hours  Jones  went  on 
board  the  Alliance,  when  he  found  that  Landais  had 
left  some  hours  earlier,  and  he  also  learned  that  Lan- 
dais had  challenged  Cottineau  the  day  before. 

Several  of  the  biographers  of  Paul  Jones,  includ- 
ing Mackenzie,  Simms,  and  the  anonymous  author 
of  what  is  known  as  "  the  Edinburgh  Life,"  pub- 
lished in  1826,  say  that  the  Commodore  "  attempted 
to  stop  this  duel  by  sending  officers  to  the  Helder 
to  arrest  Landais,"  etc.  This  statement  is,  of  course, 
intrinsically  incredible  ;  because  Jones  had  no  right 
to  "  arrest  Landais  at  the  Helder  "  or  anywhere  else 
on  the  soil  of  Holland,  and  could  not  under  any  cir- 
cumstances exercise  any  kind  of  authority  over  him 
anywhere  except  on  board  his  ship.  The  statement, 
however,  seems  worth  controverting  if  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  exhibit  the  careless,  not  to  say  slov- 
enly, manner  in  which  much  that  passes  for  the  his- 
tory of  Paul  Jones  has  been  conceived  and  written. 

The  truth  is  that  Jones  made  no  attempt  of  any 
kind  to  interfere  in  the  personal  quarrel  between 
Landais  and  Cottineau.  What  he  actually  did  was 
to  muster  the  crew  of  the  Alliance,  i3roclaim  to  them 
that  Landais  had  been  removed  from  command,  and 
then,  in  their  presence,  formally  to  confer  the  com- 
mand upon  the  first  lieutenant,  James  Arthur  Degge. 
He  then  instructed  Degge,  in  case  Landais  should 
return  to  the  ship,  to  place  him  in  close  arrest  and 
signal  at  once  to  the  flag-ship  for  further  instruc- 
tions. Degge  then  informed  the  Commodore  that 
there  was  a  considerable  faction  in  the  crew  of  the 

253 


PAUL   JONES 

Alliance,  including'  several  of  the  junior  oiB&cers,  who 
were  strong  partisans  of  Landais,  and  exx^ressed 
apprehensions  that  he  mig-ht  not  be  able  to  control 
them  if  Landais  should  return  on  board. 

Jones  then  directed  Degge  to  make  out  an  accu- 
rate list  of  these  persons  and  send  it  to  him  at  once 
on  board  the  Serapis.  Eeturning  to  the  latter  ship, 
the  Commodore  detailed  Lieutenants  Henry  Lunt 
and  Eugene  Macarty,  Acting  Lieutenant  Fanning, 
and  sixty -five  or  seventy  men  of  the  Richard's  old 
crew  to  go  on  board  the  Alliance,  and  removed  about 
a  hundred  of  the  latter's  crew,  indicated  in  Degge's 
list  as  disaffected  persons,  on  board  the  Serapis. 
Having  by  this  summary  course  guaranteed  disci- 
pline on  board  the  Alliance,  and  being  amply  able 
with  the  rest  of  the  Richard's  old  crew  in  the  Ser- 
apis to  keep  the  transferred  partisans  of  Landais  on 
their  good  behavior,  Jones  considered  that  he  had 
at  least  terminated  any  immediate  possibility  of 
mischief  on  the  part  of  his  mutinous  subordinate. 

Cottineau  in  the  meantime  had  accepted  Landais's 
challenge,  and  they  met  on  the  Island  of  the  Texel, 
with  rapiers.  In  this  duel  Captain  Cottineau  re- 
ceived a  painful  though  not  dangerous  wound,  the 
point  of  Landais's  rapier  piercing  Cottineau's  right 
side,  just  back  of  the  shoulder-line,  but,  being  de- 
flected by  the  ribs,  did  not  enter  the  cavity  of  the 
body,  though  it  made  an  ugly  gash  several  inches  in 
length,  Cottineau  at  the  same  time  counter-thrust- 
ing and  inflicting  a  slight  scratch  on  Landais's 
neck ;  when  the  affair  was  terminated  by  the  sec- 
onds. 

Landais,  being  apprised  of  Jones's  proceedings, 

254 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

made  no  attempt  to  return  on  board  the  Alliance 
after  his  duel  with  Cottineau,  but,  obtaining  the  rest 
of  his  personal  baggage  from  the  shij),  went  from 
the  Helder  to  Amsterdam,  where  he  took  lodgings. 
Here  he  attempted  to  open  communication  wdtli 
Neufville  &  Co.,  agents  of  the  United  States  in  the 
Netherlands,  from  whom  he  ordered  supplies  for 
the  Alliance  on  an  extravagant  scale.  But  Neufville 
had  instructions  from  Dr.  Franklin  to  furnish  no 
supplies  for  any  ship  in  the  squadron  except  on 
vouchers  approved  by  Commodore  Jones,  and  there- 
fore refused  to  honor  the  requisitions  of  Landais. 

Finding  his  last  resource  of  annoyance  thus  cut 
off,  Landais  resorted  to  the  expedient  of  writing 
abusive  letters  to  Jones.  To  these  Jones  paid  no 
attention.  Finally,  in  an  apparent  fit  of  desper- 
ation, Landais  sent  Jones  a  peremptory  challenge 
to  single  combat.  This  document  the  Commodore 
does  not  seem  to  have  ignored  as  he  did  the  abusive 
letters.  He  had  indeed  two  valid  reasons  for  ignor- 
ing it :  One  was  the  fact  that  it  reached  him  through 
the  regular  post  between  Amsterdam  and  the  Hel- 
der, whereas  the  commonest  rule  of  code  etiquette 
was  that  such  communications  must  always  be  de- 
livered by  the  hand  of  a  friend  of  the  challenging 
party.  The  other  reason  was  that  Landais  was  al- 
ready under  charges  for  conduct  unbecoming  an 
officer  and  gentleman,  and  could  not  be  entitled  to 
reparation  until  such  charges  had  been  withdrawn, 
or  until  he  had  been  acquitted  of  tJiem  by  due 
process  of  court-martial. 

Commodore  Jones  did  not  avail  himself  of  either 
excuse,  but   promptly  entertained  Landais's   chal- 

255 


PAUL   JONES 

lenge,  irregular  as  it  was.  The  Commodore's  quick 
action  in  tliis  affair,  and  his  total  disregard  of  the 
two  vital  points  of  irregularity  under  the  code,  above 
l^ointed  out,  indicate  that  this  was  the  kind  of  mes- 
sage he  wished  to  receive  from  Landais— and  the 
only  kind.  At  all  events,  he  at  once  placed  his  end 
of  the  affair  in  the  hands  of  Henry  Lunt  and  John 
Mayrant  (who  had  now  sufficiently  recovered  from 
his  wounds  to  be  on  deck  again).  We  will  let 
Nathaniel  Fanning  relate  the  sequel : 

.  .  .  Pursuant  to  the  request  of  the  Commodore, 
Lieutenants  Henry  Lunt  and  John  Mayrant  now  proceeded 
forthwith  to  Amsterdam,  where  they  waited  on  Landais 
and  proposed  a  meeting  with  pistols  at  ten  paces.  As  soon 
as  this  was  communicated  to  Landais  he  violently  protested 
that  the  pistol  was  not  recognized  as  a  weapon  of  honor 
under  the  French  code,  and  exclaimed  that  the  proposition 
was  barbarous. 

To  this  Lunt  responded  that  the  code  prevailing  in 
America  did  recognize  the  pistol,  and  that  the  Commodore, 
being  an  American,  was  entitled  to  proceed  according  to 
the  code  of  his  own  country. 

Finding  that  he  could  not  bully  Jones  into  accepting  his 
(Landais's)  favorite  weapon,  the  rapier,  and  thereby  in  all 
probability  sharing  Cottineau's  fate,  and  having  no  stom- 
ach for  Jones's  pistol  (in  the  use  of  which  he  knew  the 
latter  to  be  extremely  expert),  Landais  left  Amsterdam  at 
daylight  the  next  morning  and  fled  by  postchaise  to  Paris. 

Henry  Lunt  gives  an  interesting  account  of  tlie 
reason  why  Jones  selected  him  as  his  "  friend  "  in 
this  affair,  instead  of  Eichard  Dale.     He  says  : 

Unfortunately,  Dick's  own  relations  with  Landais  at 
that  moment  were  of  a  nature  which  made  him  ineligible 

250 


A   DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

under  the  code  for  the  duties  of  a  second  in  an  affair  in 
which  he  (Landais)  was  principal.  Soon  after  the  arrival 
of  our  squadron  in  the  Texel,  Dale  and  Landais  had  met 
while  ashore  at  a  cofl'ee-house  in  the  town  of  the  Helder. 

Dick,  though  still  limping  and  much  crippled  by  his 
wound  in  the  leg,  received  a  few  days  before  in  the  action 
with  the  Serapis,  could  not  restrain  himself,  but  with  his 
usual  impetuosity  sought  to  force  a  public  quarrel  on  Lan- 
dais, denouncing  his  behavior  in  the  Alliance  ;  and  in 
order  that  there  might  be  no  mistake  in  Landais's  mmd 
about  his  meaning,  he  expressed  hhnself  in  Landais's  own 
tongue,  saying  to  him,  among  other  things  : 

*'  On  ne  fait  rien  de  votre  conduite  a  cette  occasion,  autre 
que  cela  d'un  poltron  ou  d'un  traitre,  ou  des  deux  ensem- 
ble !  Moi,  cela  ne  fait  aucun  doute  que  vous  avez  merit6 
bien  le  gibet  !  "  [''One  can  make  nothing  out  of  your 
conduct  on  that  occasion  but  that  of  a  coward  or  a  traitor, 
or  both  !  To  me  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  but  that 
you  richly  deserve  the  gallows  1 "] 

This  fierce  altercation  was  only  prevented  by  energetic 
interference  of  bystanders  from  ending  in  blows,  which,  as 
both  men  were  well  armed,  must  have  produced  a  bloody 
affray  then  and  there.  Dale  fully  expected  a  challenge 
from  Landais  ;  but  it  seems  that  the  latter,  upon  reflection, 
concluded  to  stand  on  their  difference  in  rank,  and  pursued 
the  matter  no  further.  Necessarily,  however,  it  made  Dick 
quite  ineligible  for  the  office  of  second  in  any  affair  requir- 
ing personal  communication  with  Landais  on  behalf  ot 

another. 

Commodore  Jones,  while  fully  appreciating  Dick's  indig- 
nation, mildly  took  him  to  task,  I  believe,  or  at  least  ex- 
pressed regret  at  his  precipitancy  on  this  occasion,  saymg 
it  might  not  only  complicate  the  case  which  he  intended 
to  make  the  subject  of  a  court-martial,  but  that  it  might 
also  be  construed  by  ill-natured  persons  as  an  indication 
that  he,  Jones,  was  willing  that  one  of  his  subordinates 
should  take  off  his  hands  a  quarrel  entirely  his  own.  The 
Vol   L-17  2^7 


PAUL   JONES 

opinion  of  all  who  knew  of  the  affair  was  that  Landais  dis- 
played sound  prudence  in  not  pressing  this  quarrel  with 
Dale,  because  Dick  was  not  only  adept  with  the  pistol, 
but  he  was  also  a  past-master  in  skill  with  Landais's  own 
favorite  weapon,  the  rapier  ;  and  all  who  knew  him  knew 
w^ell  that  the  first  crossing  of  blades  would  make  his  lame 
leg — for  the  time  at  least — as  Avell  as  it  ever  was. 

Dick  believed  that  Master's  Mate  Caswell  and  several 
men  of  the  Richard's  crew  had  been  killed  by  the  Alliance's 
fire,  and  he  ardently  desired  to  kill  Landais  in  retalia- 
tion. 

Jones,  with  characteristic  chivalry,  left  in  his  own 
writings  no  express  record  of  this  affair.  His  near- 
est approach  to  it  is  a  laconic  letter  to  Lieutenant 
Lnnt,  which  has  been  preserved,  and  is  as  follows : 
"  I  have  received  your  written  report  of  the  Landais 
afftiir,  and  thank  you  more  than  I  can  express  in 
words  for  your  loyal  and  capable  manag-ement  in  my 
behalf." 

Some  of  Jones's  biographers  have  criticised  this 
action  on  the  part  of  their  hero  as  being,  under  the 
circumstances,  uncalled  for,  or  at  least  lacking  the 
lofty  dignity  which  they  think  should  have  charac- 
terized his  conduct.  At  least  two  of  them — bimms, 
writing  in  1845,  and  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  writing  about 
1870 — inferentially  deny  that  he  proposed  to  figlit 
Landais  at  all,  and  Abbott  says  that  he  sent  Lieu- 
tenant Lunt  with  other  officers  "  to  Amsterdam  with 
orders  to  arrest  Landais." 

These  amiable  historians  apparently  forget  two 
facts  of  prime  historical  importance,  either  of  which 
alone  would  disprove  their  statement.  One  fact  was 
that  Jones  had  no  shadow  of  authority  to  order  the 

258 


A    DIPLOIMATIC    DUEL 

arrest  of  Landais  in  Amsterdam  ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, the  giving-  of  such  an  order  must  have  stamped 
him  as  a  fool.  The  other  fact  was  that  in  1779  no 
gentleman  of  combatant  age  and  able-bodied  was 
supposed  to  be  at  liberty  to  decline  a  challenge.  If 
he  did  so,  it  was  likely  to  cost  him  his  social  posi- 
tion ;  and  this  rule  applied  with  double  force  to 
officers  of  the  army  and  the  navy.  Jones  had,  indeed, 
as  has  been  pointed  out,  technical  grounds  on  which 
he  might  have  based  a  declination  of  Landais's  chal- 
lenge ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether,  in  view  of  the 
fierce  spirit  of  that  epoch,  such  grounds  would  have 
been  generally  accepted  as  sufficient  or  even  tenable. 
Moreover,  Jones  knev/  perfectly  well  that  Landais 
was  boastful  and  vainglorious,  and  that,  had  his 
challenge  been  declined  on  any  grounds  whatsoever, 
he  would,  likely,  have  been  thereby  emboldened  to 
post  Jones  publicly  in  Holland,  France,  and  America 
as  a  coward,  who  had  wronged  him  and  then  had 
shrunk  from  afiording  him  satisfaction.  Such  a 
situation  would  have  given  Landais  the  opportunity 
he  evidently  hoped  for  to  parade,  as  he  never  failed 
to  do,  the  fact  that  he  himself  was  a  scion  of  the 
oldest  and  proudest  noblesse  of  France,  and  that  it 
was  hardly  the  province  of  the  son  of  a  Scotch 
gardener  to  rule  him  out  of  the  pale  of  gentility  by 
refusing,  on  merely  technical  grounds,  to  fight  him. 
The  exact  historical  truth  is  that  Paul  Jones  at  that 
moment  desired  nothing  so  much  as  a  minute  or  so 
of  the  society  of  Pierre  Landais,  under  such  condi- 
tions of  propinquity. 

Dr.  Franklin  refers  to  this  affair  in  his  official  cor- 
respondence as  follows  :     "  Jones  and  Landais  have 

259 


PAUL  JONES 

had  a  fierce  quarrel,  of  a  nature  calculated  to  pro- 
hibit any  future  co-operation  between  them,  and, 
believing  Landais  to  be  wholly  in  the  wrong-,  I 
have  used  my  authority  to  detach  him  perma- 
nently from  the  squadron  and  to  order  him  to 
proceed  to  America,  unless  a  competent  tribunal 
can  be  convened  here  before  which  he  may  answer 
for  his  conduct." 

The  foregoing  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written 
in  November,  1779,  in  which  Dr.  Franklin  announces 
the  arrival  of  Landais  in  Paris  for  conference  with 
him  relative  to  the  charges  preferred  by  Commodore 
Jones.  Dr.  Franklin  conducted  this  preliminary 
inquiry  himself  at  the  instance  of  the  French  Min- 
ister of  Marine,  M.  de  Sartine.  Jones,  not  being 
able  to  leave  the  squadron  at  the  Texel,  was  repre- 
sented in  this  inquiry  by  Dr.  Edward  Bancroft.  On 
March  15,  1780,  Dr.  Franklin  made  a  report  to  the 
Marine  Committee  of  Congress,  in  which  he  says  : 
"  The  inquiry,  though  imperfect,  and  the  length  of 
it  have  had  one  good  effect  in  preventing  hitherto 
a  duel  between  the  parties  which  I  now  believe  will 
not  take  place,  as  both  expect  justice  from  a  court- 
martial  m  America." 

In  a  report  to  M.  de  Sartine  dated  March  20, 1780, 
Dr.  Franklin,  after  expressing  regret  at  his  inability 
to  act  on  the  evidence  before  him,  says  :  "  The  in- 
quiry, imperfect  as  it  is,  has,  however,  had  the  good 
effect  of  preventing  a  duel  in  Holland  between  those 
two  officers  [Jones  and  Landais]  which  might  have 
proved  fatal  to  one  or  both  of  them."  * 

*  See  Wharton's  "Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution," Vol.  6. 

260 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

It  may  be  observed  here  that  Fanning's  statement 
to  the  effect  that  "  Lanclais  left  Amsterdam  at  day- 
light the  next  morning-,  and  fled  by  postchaise  to 
Paris,"  though  in  the  general  sense  true,  involves  a 
slight  inaccuracy.  Landais  did  "  leave  Amsterdam 
at  daylight  the  next  morning,"  as  Fanning  says  ;  but 
he  did  not  go  direct  to  Paris.  He  went  first  to  The 
Hague,  where  he  endeavored  to  enlist  the  sympathy 
and  support  of  the  French  Ambassador,  the  Duke  de 
la  Yauguyon.  But  the  Ambassador  refused  to  grant 
him  an  interview.  Landais  then  prevailed  upon  the 
Chevalier  de  Livoncourt,  navy  agent  of  France  in 
Holland,  to  lay  before  the  Duke  a  written  statement. 
The  Duke  declined  to  receive  even  this  ;  but  directed 
de  Livoncourt  to  inform  Landais  that  he  had  recently 
received  a  despatch  from  the  French  Minister  of 
Marine,  de  Sartine,  informing  him  that,  under  date 
of  October  15th,  Dr.  Franklin  had  notified  Landais 
of  the  charges  preferred  against  him  and  had  ordered 
him  to  "  render  himself  forthwith  into  Dr.  Franklin's 
presence  to  answer  them,  and  to  bring  with  him  all 
papers  he  might  judge  needful  for  his  defence."  The 
Duke  de  la  Vauguyon  also  directed  de  Livoncourt 
to  inform  Landais  that  he  himself  must  have  received 
Dr.  Franklin's  order  of  October  15th,  as  de  Sartine 
had  enclosed  to  him  (the  Duke)  a  certified  copy  of 
it  which  had  been  in  his  hands  for  three  days 

This  final  rebuff  left  no  door  in  Holland  open  to 
Landais,  and  he  at  last  concluded  to  obey  Dr.  Frank- 
lin's order.  His  arrival  in  Paris,  or  at  Passy,  is  re- 
ported by  Dr.  Franklin  in  an  official  letter  dated 
Isovember  9th,  though  it  appears  that  he  left  Am- 
sterdam, as  related  by  Fanning,  the  23d  of  October. 

261 


PAUL   JONES 

We  now  turn  to  a  more  important  as  well  as  more 
interesting"  theme. 

When  the  squadron  under  Commodore  Jones 
arrived  in  the  Texel  the  3d  of  October,  there  were 
on  board  the  Serapis  and  the  Pallas  five  hundred 
and  four  British  prisoners  of  war,  of  whom  two 
hundred  and  eleven  had  been  taken  in  merchant 
vessels,  and  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  were  sur- 
vivors of  the  crews  of  the  Serajois  and  Countess  of 
Scarboro'.  Of  these  latter,  two  hundred  and  two 
had  belong-ed  to  the  Serapis,  and  ninety-one  to  the 
Scarboro'.  One  hundred  and  twenty-one  of  those 
belonging-  to  the  Serapis,  and  twenty-nine  of  those 
belonging  to  the  Scarboro',  were  wounded,  most 
of  them  badly.  In  addition  to  these  one  hundred 
and  fifty  wounded  prisoners,  the  Serapis  had  on 
board  one  hundred  and  six  wounded  of  the  Rich- 
ards crew,  and  the  Pallas  had  on  board  about  thir- 
teen of  her  own  crew  wounded  in  the  action  with 
the  Countess  of  Scarboro'. 

This  situation,  of  course,  made  charnel-houses  of 
the  two  ships,  and  the  only  possible  relief  from  such 
a  state  of  horror  was  that  of  putting  the  wounded 
prisoners  on  shore.  The  Dutch  authorities  at  first 
refused  permission  to  land  anyone  from  the  squad- 
ron ;  but  after  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  the  British  Am- 
bassador at  The  Hague,  had  seconded  the  request  of 
Commodore  Jones  for  such  permission,  it  was 
granted  ;  and  all  the  wounded  prisoners  were  put  on 
shore  in  the  barracks  of  the  Texel  Fort,  and  Jones 
was  also  permitted  to  land  a  small  force  of  French 
marines,  under  Lieutenant  de  Mezieres,  to  guard  and 
take  care  of   them,  hospital  supplies  and  medical 

2G2 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

attendance  being  furnished  from  the  ships  of  the 
squadron.* 

Meantime,  under  date  of  October  9th,  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke  addressed  to  the  States-General  the  follow- 
ing letter : 

High  and  Mighty  Lords  : 

The  undersigned,  ambassador  extraordinary  and  pleni- 
potentiary of  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  has  the  honor  to 
communicate  to  Your  High  Mightinesses  that  two  of  His 
Majesty's  ships,  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess  of  Scarbor- 
ough arrived,  some  days  ago  in  the  Texel,  having  been  at- 
tacked and  taken  by  force  by  a  certain  Paul  Jones,  a  sub- 
ject of  the  King,  Avho,  according  to  treaties  and  the  laws  of 
war,  can  only  be  considered  as  a  rebel  and  a  pirate. 

The  undersigned  is  therefore  in  duty  bound  to  recur  to 
Your  High  Mightinesses  and  demand  your  immediate  orders 
that  those  ships  with  their  oflBcers  and  crews  may  be  stopped  ; 
and  he  especially  recommends  to  your  humanity  to  permit 

*  Paul  Jones  had  a  retentive  memory.  Many  years  before  our  Revo- 
lutionary War,  while  commanding  a  merchant  ship  in  the  West  India 
trade,  he  got  into  some  trouble  at  the  Island  of.  Grenada,  which  involved 
nis  arrest,  under  circumstances,  however,  not  at  all  discreditable  to  him, 
Lack  of  space  forbids  detail  here.  Captain,  afterward  Admiral.  Lord 
Hood  happened  to  be  in  that  port  with  his  ship,  being  then  senior  oflB- 
cer  on  the  station  ;  and,  learning  the  real  facts  in  the  case,  he  ener- 
getically interfered  in  Jones's  (or  rather,  at  that  date.  Captain  John 
Paul's)  behalf,  causing  his  instant  release,  and  giving  security  on  the 
honor  of  a  British  oflBcer  for  the  young  merchant  captain's  appearance 
to  answer  the  charge  if  called  upon.  Now.  in  1779  Jones  found  young 
Midshipman  Hood  among  his  prisoners,  severely  wounded,  but  stiU  on 
his  feet  and  plucky  as  ever.  Almost  his  first  act  on  his  arrival  at  the 
Texel  was  to  turn  the  boy  over  to  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  British  Ambassador 
at  The  Hague,  without  parole ;  asking  him,  however,  to  convey  to  his  dis- 
tinguished kinsman  the  profound  compliments  of  Paul  Jones,  and  to  say 
that  he  found  pleasure  in  the  opportunity  to  reciprocate  an  ancient  kind- 
ness. This  courtesy  was  not  lost  on  the  chivalric  Hoods,  as  will  appear 
farther  on. 

263 


PAUL   JONES 

the  wounded  to  be  brought  on  shore  that  proper  attention 
may  be  paid  to  them  at  the  expense  of  the  King,  his 
master. 

(Signed)  Yorke. 

The  States-General  took  immediate  notice  of  Sir 
Joseph's  letter.  Permission  to  land  the  wounded 
was  at  once  given ;  but  in  terms  that  left  the  prison- 
ers under  the  control  and  at  the  expense  of  the 
American  Commodore,  and  not,  as  Sir  Joseph  had 
asked,  under  his  control  and  "  at  the  expense  of  the 
King,  his  master."  Then  on  the  25th  of  October  the 
States-General  answered  the  demand  of  the  English 
Ambassador  by  a  resolution  in  which,  after  calling 
attention  to  the  precedents  and  practice  of  Holland 
in  such  cases,  they  informed  the  Ambassador  that 
they  "  did  not  consider  themselves  authorized  to 
examine  into  the  legality  of  the  prizes  or  pass 
judgment  upon  them  or  upon  the  person  of  Paul 
Jones." 

Four  days  after  the  date  of  this  resolution.  Sir 
Joseph,  under  date  of  The  Hague,  October  29,  1779, 
submitted  a  formal  memorial  to  the  States-General, 
of  which  the  following  are  the  salient  points; 

.  .  .  In  thanking  Your  High  Mightinesses  for  the  orders 
your  humanity  has  dictated  in  relation  to  the  wounded 
who  were  on  board  two  vessels  of  tlie  King,  the  Serapis 
and  Countess  of  Scarborough,  1  only  discharge  the  orders 
of  His  Majesty  in  renewing  the  most  strong  and  urgent  de- 
mand for  the  seizure  and  restitution  of  said  vessels  as  well 
as  for  the  enlargement  of  their  crews,  who  have  been 
seized  by  the  pirate,  Paul  Jones,  a  Scotchman,  a  rebellious 
subject  and  state  criminal.     .     .     . 

1  shall  confine  myself  to  the  remark  that  the  placard  of 

204 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

Your  High  Mightinesses,  in  prescribing  to  captains  of 
foreign  ships  of  war  to  show  their  letters  of  marque  or 
commissions,  authorizes  you,  according  to  the  general 
custom  of  admiralties,  to  treat  as  pirates  those  whose 
letters  are  found  illegal  for  not  being  issued  by  a  sovereign 
power.     ,     .     , 

(Signed)         Joseph  Yorke. 

Copies  of  all  these  papers  were  currently  trans- 
mitted to  Commodore  Jones.  There  is  nothing  ex- 
tant to  show  that  he  took  any  notice  of  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke's  preliminary  letter  of  October  9th  to  the 
States-General.  But  he  did  reply  to  the  Ambassa- 
dor's formal  memorial  of  October  29th. 

In  order  to  understand  clearly  the  tenor  of  Jones's 
reply  to  Sir  Joseph's  memorial,  it  is  necessary  to  keep 
in  mind  that,  as  he  afterward  explains  with  much 
detail  in  his  journal  of  1787,  the  whole  idea  and 
purpose  of  the  Commodore  while  in  the  Texel  was 
to  use  the  opportunities  afforded  by  his  situation  to 
widen  the  breach  already  open  between  England  and 
Holland,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  the  semblance 
of  offence  to  Holland  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States.  And  there  was  still  a  third  factor  to  bo 
taken  into  his  calculations,  namely,  the  necessity  of 
avoiding  any  course  or  attitude  calculated  to  touch 
the  susceptibilities  of  France. 

Cunningham,  in  his  *'  Life  and  Letters  of  Horace 
Walpole  "  (vol.  viii.,  p.  286),  quotes  a  letter  from  Wal- 
pole  to  the  Countess  of  Ossory,  dated  October  1, 1782, 
as  follows  :  "  Have  you  seen  in  the  papers  the  excel- 
lent letter  of  Paul  Jones  to  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  ?  Elle 
nous  dit  hien  des  veriUs.  I  doubt  Sir  Joseph  can  an- 
swer them.    Dr.  Franklin  himself,  I  should  think,  was 

205 


PALTL    JONES 

the  author.     It  is  certainly  written  by  a  first-rate 
pen.  .     . 

We  have  not  been  able  to  find,  in  any  collection 
of  papers  extant,  any  letter,  or  cop}'^  of  one,  addressed 
directly  by  Paul  Jones  to  Sir  Joseph  Yorke.  But 
in  the  French  Collection  of  1799,  and  also  in  a  Parlia- 
mentary pai^er  or  Foreign  Oliice  Blue  Book  print- 
ed in  1782,  embodying-  the  corresxDondence  of  Sir 
Joseph  Yorke  with  the  States-General  of  Holland 
immediately  preceding  the  outbreak  of  war  between 
England  and  the  Netherlands,  appears  a  letter  ad- 
dressed by  Commodore  Jones  to  the  States-General, 
reviewing-  the  letter  or  memorial  of  Sir  Joseph  to 
that  body  above  quoted.  It  is  probable  that  this  is 
the  letter  referred  to  by  Horace  Walpole,  as  the 
Blue  Book  mentioned  was  printed  shortly  before  the 
date  of  his  letter  to  the  Countess  of  Ossory.  Its 
text  is  as  follows : 

High  and  Mighty  Lords  : 

Begging  your  grax^ious  and  condescending  consideration, 
I,  Paul  Jones,  Captain  of  the  United  States  Navy,  repre- 
sent and  humbly  relate  that  before  me  has  been  laid  copy  of 
a  letter  addressed  to  your  High  Mightinesses,  under  date 
of  the  9th  of  the  month  of  October,  by  His  Excellency  Sir 
Joseph  Yorke,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Plenipoten- 
tiary of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Great  Britain.  That  in 
the  said  letter  the  said  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  states  that  "two 
of  His  Majesty's  ships,  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess  of  Scar- 
boro',  arrived  some  days  ago  in  the  Texcl,  having  been  at- 
tacked and  taken  by  force,  by  a  certain  Paul  Jones,  a  sub- 
ject of  the  King,  who,  according  to  treaties  and  the  laws  of 
war,  can  only  be  considered  as  a  rebel  and  a  pirate." 

And  on  this  ground  His  Excellency  Sir  Joseph  Yorke 
demands  that  the  ships  and  crews  be  given  up. 

2GG 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

Also  has  been  laid  before  me  copy  of  memorial  of  the  said 
Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  under  date  of  the  29th  of  October,  just 
past,  renewing  the  said  demand  ' '  most  strong  and  urgent 
for  tlie  seizure  and  restitution  of  tlie  said  vessels  as  well  as 
for  the  enlargement  of  their  crews,  who  have  been  seized  by 
the  pirate  Paul  Jones,  a  Scotchman,  a  rebellious  subject  and 
a  state  criminal."  Also  conjuring  Your  High  Mightinesses 
to  "treat  as  pirates  those  whose  letters  [commissions]  are 
found  to  be  illegal  for  not  being  issued  by  a  sovereign  power." 

May  it  please  Your  High  Mightinesses,  I  conceive  from  the 
foregoing  that  the  only  question  in  dispute  between  His 
Excellency  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  and  myself  is  the  question 
whether  my  commission  has  been  * '  issued  by  a  sovereign 
power.''  If  my  commission  has  been  issued  by  a  sovereign 
power,  then  Sir  Joseph  Y'^orke's  contention  that  I  am  a 
*'  pirate,"  etc.,  must  fall. 

The  commission  I  hold,  of  which  I  transmit  herewith  a 
true  copy  and  hold  the  original  subject  to  examination  by 
Your  High  Mightinesses  or  your  authorized  envoy  for  that 
purpose,  and  which  original  I  have  already  exhibited  to 
His  Excellency  Commodore  Riemersma,  commanding  the 
fleet  of  Your  High  Mightinesses,  now  at  anchor  in  these 
Roads,  is  issued  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  due  form,  signed  by  the  President  thereof  and 
attested  with  the  seal. 

Such  being  true,  the  only  question  left  to  decide  is  the 
question  whether  the  United  States  of  America  is  a  sover- 
eign power. 

On  this  question,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  Your  High 
Mightinesses  will  agree  with  me  that  neither  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke  nor  his  master,  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  can  be  con- 
sidered competent  sole  judge  of  last  resort.  If  they  could 
be  so  considered,  then  all  questions  of  every  description 
would  be  subject  to  ex  parte  decision  by  the  arbitrary 
will  of  one  party,  in  any  contest — a  doctrine  which  must, 
in  the  estimation  of  every  judicial  mind,  be  too  preposter- 
ous to  contemplate  without  levity. 

267 


PAUL   JONES 

Your  High  Mightinesses  cannot  fail  to  be  aware  that  the 
question  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica has  been  passed  upon  by  qualified  and  competent 
judges.  That  sovereignty  has  been  recognized  by  His  Most 
Christian  Majesty  the  King  of  France  and  Navarre,  in  the 
form  of  a  solemn  treaty  of  amity  and  alliance  done  at  Ver- 
sailles nearly  a  year  ago  and  now  a  casus  belli  in  the  es- 
timation of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Great  Britain.  The 
independence  of  the  United  States,  and  with  it  their  right- 
ful sovereignty,  has  been  recognized  by  His  Most  Catholic 
Majesty  the  King  of  Spain  and  the  Indies.  The  belliger- 
ent rights  of  the  United  States  have  been  acknowledged 
by  His  Majesty  Frederick  II.,  King  of  Prussia,  and  by 
Her  Imperial  Majesty  Catharine  II.,  Empress  of  all  the 
Russias. 

It  does  not  become  me,  who  am  only  a  naval  officer  of 
command  rank,  to  enter  upon  discussion  of  the  motives  of 
statecraft  which  may  have  induced  such  attitudes  or  such 
action  on  the  part  of  the  august  potentates  mentioned  ; 
but  Your  High  Mightinesses  will,  I  do  not  doubt,  agree 
that  it  is  within  my  province,  humble  as  it  may  be,  to  in- 
vite attention  to  existing  facts  of  common  notoriety  and 
concealed  from  no  one.  In  the  face  of  so  much  evi- 
dence, there  is  before  us,  by  way  of  rebuttal,  nothing  but 
the  ex  parte  declaration  of  His  Excellency  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke,  in  behalf  of  his  master  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  a 
party  principal  in  the  case  to  be  adjudicated. 

And  now,  if  I  may  for  one  moment  further  beg  the  pa- 
tient indulgence  of  Your  High  Mightinesses,  I  recur  to  the 
language  of  His  Excellency  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  wherein,  to 
fortify,  apparently,  his  contention  that  I  am  **a  rebellious 
subject  and  state  criminal, ' '  he  declares  that  I  am  not  only 
"the  pirate  Paul  Jones,"  but  also  that  I  am  **a  Scotch- 
man. ' ' 

Candor  compels  me,  may  it  please  Your  High  Mighti- 
nesses, to  admit  that  this  last,  alone  of  all  Sir  Joseph's 
allegations,  is  true  and  indisputable.     But  while  admitting 

2Cb 


A   DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

the  truth  of  Sir  Joseph's  assertion  of  my  Scottish  birth,  I 
deny  the  validity  of  his  inference  made  plain  by  his  con- 
text. That,  under  the  circumstances  now  being  consid- 
ered, the  fact  of  Scottish  birth  should  be  held  to  constitute 
the  character  of  a  **  rebellious  subject  and  state  criminal," 
more  than  birth  elsewhere  within  the  dominions  of  the 
King  of  Great  Britain,  I  do  not  conceive  to  be  a  tenable 
theory.  It  cannot  have  escaped  the  attention  of  Your 
High  Mightinesses  that  every  man  now  giving  fealty  to  the 
cause  of  American  Independence  was  born  a  British  sub- 
ject. I  do  not  comprehend,  nor  can  I  conceive,  a  differ- 
ence in  this  respect  between  birth  as  a  British  subject  in 
Scotland  and  birth  as  a  British  subject  in  Virginia,  Penn- 
sylvania, New  York,  New  England,  or  elsewhere  on  British 
soil,  there  being  in  the  eyes  of  British  law  no  difference 
between  the  soil  of  the  parent  realm  and  the  soil  of  col- 
onies in  respect  to  the  relations  or  the  rights  of  the 
subject. 

If  the  reasoning  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  be  sound,  then 
General  Washington,  Dr.  Franklin,  and  all  other  patriots 
of  birth  on  the  soil  of  America  when  a  British  colony,  must 
be,  equally  with  me,  *  *  state  criminals. ' '  No  formal  procla- 
mation has  been  made  to  that  effect,  within  my  knowledge, 
by  due  authority  of  the  King  and  his  Ministers.  What- 
ever may  be  the  impression  of  exigency,  it  is  clear  that  the 
Government  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  has  not  yet  under- 
taken to  proclaim  wholesale  outlawry  against  nearly  three 
millions  of  people  in  America  now  in  arms  for  the  cause 
of  Independence.  Such  proclamation  seems  to  have  been 
reserved  for  my  especial  honor,  in  a  port  of  a  neutral  state, 
and  on  the  ijyse  dixit  of  an  ambassador  without  express 
authority  from  Crown,  Ministers,  or  Commons.  It  is  in- 
conceivable that  so  unauthorized  a  proceeding  can  have 
weight  or  that  so  unexampled  an  exception  can  prevail  Y%'ith 
the  reason  of  so  judicial  a  body  as  the  Assembly  of  Your 
High  Mightinesses. 

With  these  humble  representations  I  confidently  repose 

269 


PAUL   JONES 

trust  in  the  traditional  candor  and  in  the  infallible  justice 
of  the  High  and  Mighty  Lords  of  the  States  General  of  the 
Netherlands. 

(Signed)  Paul  Jones, 

Captain  U.  S.  Naxiy. 
On  Board  the  U.  S.  Ship  Serapis, 
November  4,  1779. 

If  the  foregoing  is  the  document  referred  to  by 
Horace  Walpole  in  his  letter  to  the  Countess  of 
Ossory — and,  so  far  as  our  researches  enable  us  to 
judge,  there  is  no  other — it  is  physically  impossible 
that  Dr.  Franklin  could  have  been  the  author  of  it, 
as  Walpole  suggests.  It  quotes  from  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke's  letter  dated  October  29th,  only  six  days 
previous.  At  least  two  or  three  days  must  have 
elapsed  between  the  writing  of  Sir  Joseph's  letter 
and  Jones's  receipt  of  a  copy  of  it.  By  the  most 
rapid  conveyances  of  those  daj^s  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  any  communication  to  reach  Dr. 
Franklin  at  Passy  from  Jones  at  the  Texel  and  be 
returned  mth  comment  inside  of  ten  days.  But 
Jones's  reply,  through  the  States-General,  to  Sir 
Joseph  Yorke's  letter  of  October  29th,  reaching 
him  through  the  same  channel,  was  dated  No- 
vember 4tli,  only  six  days  in  all,  including  what- 
ever time  may  have  been  consumed  in  trans- 
mission. Therefore,  if  the  foregoing  is  the  letter 
Walx^ole  refers  to,  his  surmise  that  its  real  au- 
thor was  Dr.  Franklin  becomes  manifestly  unten- 
able. 

The  fact  is  that  Jones  was  in  this  emergency  con- 
ducting a  "  diplomacy  of  his  own,  "  as  Dr.  Francis 
Wharton  says,  with  fixed  objects  of  his  own  in  view, 

270 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

and  with  clear  conceptions  of  method  for  their  at- 
tainment. And  for  the  sake  of  complete  historical 
accuracy,  as  will  appear  more  in  detail  in  later 
pages,  it  must  be  said  that  this  diplomacy  was  con- 
ducted, in  some  respects,  contrary  to  the  advice  of 
so  eminent  an  international  lawyer  as  Charles  Fred- 
erick Dumas,  and  that  of  so  eminent  a  diplomat  as 
the  French  Ambassador  at  The  Hague,  de  Vauguyon 
himself.  Both  these  authorities  on  such  affairs  sub- 
sequently, without  reserve,  admitted  that  the  sequel 
fully  justified  Jones's  disregard  of  their  advice. 
Viewed  in  the  light  of  results,  Jones's  diplomatic 
operations  in  the  Texel  lose  no  lustre  by  compari- 
son with  his  victories  at  sea. 

He  was,  indeed,  in  a  high  degree  and  with  master 
hand,  exemplifying  his  own  possession  of  a  quality 
which,  as  recorded  earlier  in  these  pages,  he  had 
declared  to  be  one  of  the  prime  qualifications  of  a 
naval  officer  :  "  He  should  also  be  conversant  v/ith 
the  usages  of  diplomacy,  and  capable,  if  called 
upon,  of  maintaining  a  dignified  and  judicious 
diplomatic  correspondence,  .  .  .  involving  the 
portentous  issue  of  peace  or  war  between  great 
poAvers."  * 

Fortunately,  Paul  Jones  did  not  leave  the  future 
student  of  history  to  speculate  without  guide  as  to 
the  conceptions,  impressions,  and  motives  that  actu- 
ated his  conduct  in  this  crisis  of  his  career.  In  his 
last  journal — that  of  1791 — when  he  could  review 
all  that  happened  in  1779  with  the  calm  retrospec- 
tion of  twelve  years,  over  an  epoch  that  made  his- 
tory more  rapidly  and  more  radically  than  any  other 

*  Letter  to  Marine  Committee,  September  14,  1775. 
271 


PAUL   JONES 

twelve  years  in  the  existence  of  the  human  race,  he 
says  : 

From  that  day  to  this  I  have  not  been  able  to  compre- 
hend the  thoughts  that  must  have  or  that  could  have  act- 
uated the  Duke  (de  Vauguyon)  and  Dumas  at  that  time. 
No  one  could  doubt  either  their  fealty  to  France  or  their 
singleness  of  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  America.  Yet  both 
were  cautious  where  I  thought  boldness  alone  could  win  ; 
both  were  full  of  expedients  to  temporize  where  dash  and 
pluck  seemed  to  me  the  first  and  only  essentials  of  suc- 
cess, and  both — though  each  somewhat  in  different  direc- 
tions— counseled  the  appearance  of  yielding  where  it 
seemed  clear  to  me  that  nothing  but  the  utmost  exhibition 
of  unbending  fortitude  could  carry  the  point. 

Holland  was  almost  rent  asunder  by  two  parties.  There 
was  the  American  party,  led  by  the  Grand  Pensionary,  Van 
Berckel ;  and  there  was  the  English  party,  led  by  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  w^ho  after  all  was  nothing  but  a  puppet  in  Sir 
Joseph  Yorke's  hands ;  between  these  two  Holland  was 
distracted. 

My  sole  purpose  was  to  provoke  the  English  party  just 
enough  to  induce  them  to  acts  calculated  to  excite  the  re- 
sentment of  the  American  party,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
avoid  going  far  enough  in  my  resistance  to  any  demands, 
howsoever  unjust  or  iniquitous,  to  alarm  my  friends  and 
the  friends  of  our  cause. 

To  accomplish  this  I  wished  to  try  the  patience  of  the 
English  party  to  the  last  bit  of  strain  it  would  bear  by 
keeping  my  anchorage  in  Dutch  w^aters  on  plea  of  distress, 
and  at  the  same  time  I  wished  to  be  ready  for  instant  de- 
parture the  moment  I  saw  that  the  plea  of  distress  could 
no  longer  be  plausibly  held.  To  decide  just  when  such 
moment  should  arrive  was  really  the  only  factor  in  the 
case  that  I  felt  to  be  a  challenge  to  my  faculties  of  percep- 
tion. 

As  it  turned  out,  I  decided  that  such  moment  had  ar- 

272 


A   DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

rived  on  December  26,  1779.    But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
had  been  a  dozen   days  prior  to  that  date,  and  after  the 
States  General  passed  their  resolution  of  November  19th 
when  I  could  have  sailed  just  as  well  or  nearly  as  well  as 
when  I  did  sail. 

With  this  opportune  key,  from  Jones's  own  pen, 
to  the  otherwise  mysterious  cipher  of  what  may  be 
termed  the  ''diplomatic  duel  in  the  Texel"  be- 
tween Sir  Joseph  Yorke  and  Paul  Jones,  we  may  re- 
sume the  chronological  thread  of  history  : 

Paul  Jones's  rejoinder  to  Sir  Joseph  Yorke's  me- 
morial of  October  29th  was  dated  Tuesday,  Novem- 
ber 4,  1779.  On  Wednesday,  November  12th,  the 
whole  subject  was  taken  up  by  the  States-General 
for  debate  and  determination.  This  debate,  with 
only  such  interruptions  as  might  be  necessary  to 
attend  to  routine  business,  lasted  a  week.  On 
Wednesday,  November  19,  1779,  the  States-General 
passed  a  resolution  the  full  text  of  which  may  be 
found  on  pages  420  and  421  of  Dr.  Wharton's  "Dip- 
lomatic Correspondence  of  the  American  Eevoiu- 
tion,"  Yol.  III. 

The  substance  of  this  resolution  is  as  follows  : 

1st.  The  States- General  "  decline  to  consider  any 
question  affecting  the  legality  of  Paul  Jones's  com- 
mission or  his  status  as  a  person." 

2d.  The  States-General  declare  that  it  is  "  not 
their  intention  to  do  anything  from  which  it  might 
lawfully  be  inferred  that  they  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  American  colonies." 

3d.  "  That     ...     it  shall  be  signified  to  Paul 
Jones,  that,  having  only  put  in  to  place  his  injured 
vessels  in  shelter  from  the  dangers  of  the  sea    .     .     . 
Vol.  I.— 18  273 


PAUL   JO^'ES 

lie  shall  make  sail  as  soon  as  possible  when  the  wind 
and  weather  shall  bo  favorable,  and  withdi-aw  from 
this  country.     .     .     ." 

The  rest  of  this  resolution  was  in  the  form  of 
an  order  to  His  Serene  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  "  to  effect,  with  all  possible  discretion,  that 
the  aforesaid  Paul  Jones  depart  with  his  prizes  as 
soon  as  wind  and  weather  will  permit,"  etc. 

At  this  point,  honors  in  the  game  of  diplomacy  be- 
tween Commodore  Jones  and  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  might 
seem  to  have  been  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  easy. 
Jones  had  shattered  Sir  Joseph's  original  contention 
that  he  was  "a.  pirate,"  and  Sir  Joseph,  with  the 
Prince  of  Orange  for  his  principal  tool,  had  secured 
an  order  for  Jones  to  leave  the  shelter  of  a  Dutch  port. 
But  the  order  to  Jones  to  leave  w^as  so  qualified  by 
conditions,  and  so  neutralized  by  contingencies  be- 
yond human  control,  as  to  be  really  no  order  at  all, 
but  merely  an  admonition  to  act  at  discretion.* 

*  Under  date  of  "  The  Texel,  December  5, 1779,"  Jones  wrote  a  letter  to 
Kobert  Morris,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said  that  he  was  glad  his  connec- 
tion with  a  court  was  now  about  ended,  and  that  he  would  have  the  satis- 
faction, when  he  should  return  to  the  United  States,  of  reflecting  that  his 
cruise  in  European  waters  had  been  at  his  own  expense,  and  "without 
fee  or  reward  of  a  court."  Lest  this  remark  might  seem  inconsisteut 
with  the  known  benefactions  of  the  Duke  and  the  Duchess  de  Chartres. 
d'Orvilliers,  Lafayette,  and  King  Louis  himself,  it  should  be  said  that 
Jones  did  not  consider  these  helps  as  personal  to  himself,  but  had  ac- 
cepted and  used  them  as  public  resources  for  the  benefit  of  the  cause 
alone.  However,  it  may  be  added  that  when  he  did  come  to  the  United 
States,  fourteen  months  after  the  date  of  his  letter  to  Robert  Morris, 
he  brought  with  him  a  most  palpable  "  reward  of  a  court"  in  the  shape 
of  an  order  of  knighthood  conferred  by  the  King  of  France,  with  the 
gold-mounted  and  jewelled  sword  of  honor  which  was  the  usual  insig- 
nia of  that  distinction.  At  the  worst,  however,  we  can  view  his  little 
exhibition  of  temper  under  date  of  December  5,  1779,  as  being,  if  not 
unprovoked,  at  least  only  a  little  premature. 

274 


A   DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

It  is  interesting-  at  this  point  to  note  the  divergence 
of  the  view  which  Jones  on  the  one  hand,  and  de 
Yang-iiyon,  Dumas,  and  even  Franklin  on  the  other, 
took  as  to  the  significance  of  this  resolution.  The 
three  professional  diplomats  viewed  it  as  a  substan- 
tial victory  for  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  because  of  three 
points  which  it  settled,  he  had  gained  two  and  Jones 
only  one.  Sir  Joseph's  two  points  were  :  first,  the 
express  disclaimer  by  the  Dutch  Legislature  of  in- 
tention to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  United 
States,  and,  second,  the  order,  conditional  and  in- 
definite as  it  was,  limiting  the  duration  of  asylum 
in  Dutch  waters  for  Jones  and  his  squadron.  Jones's 
one  point  was  the  overthrow  of  Sir  Joseph's  conten- 
tion that  he  was  "  a  pirate,"  and  the  accompanying" 
refusal  of  the  States-General  to  interfere  with  his 
prizes  or  his  prisoners  of  war. 

Besides,  and  far  more  important  than  any  of  these 
points  in  the  long-  run,  as  Jones  argued,  was  the  fact 
that  the  controversy  brought  on  by  his  presence  in 
the  Texel  had  for  the  first  time  forced  a  distinct  ex- 
pression of  official  public  opinion  in  Holland  on  the 
issues  raised  by  the  American  Revolution.  On  this 
point  Jones  said : 

We  had  at  least  separated  the  sheep  from  the  goats.  We 
knew  now  what  we  did  not  know  before,  who  our  friends 
were  and  how  strong  our  cause  was  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Dutch  people.  In  the  final  vote  on  the  resolution  of  No- 
vember 19th  the  majority  against  us  in  the  Assembly  was 
only  six,  and  even  at  that  more  than  enough  deputies  to 
reverse  the  vote  stated  in  answering  to  the  division  that 
they  witliheld  for  further  consideration  certain  points 
in  the  placard  of  November,  1756,  defining  the  limits  of 

375 


PAUL   JONES 

asylum  for  crippled   ships  of  war  belonging  to  belligerents 
between  whom  Holland  might  be  neutral. 

This  knowledge  was  as  much  in  possession  of  the  Duke 
(de  la  Vauguyon),  Mr.  Dumas,  and  Dr.  Franklin  as  in  mine, 
because  the  proceedings  were  public.  The  only  really  sin- 
ister thing  done  at  this  time  was  the  relief  from  command 
of  the  Dutch  fleet  in  the  Texel  of  Commodore  Riemersma 
and  assignment  to  it  of  Vice-Admiral  de  Reynst.  Riemersma 
was  of  the  American  party,  and  he  had  also  been  extremely 
polite  to  me  personally  ;  so  much  so  that  Sir  Joseph  Yorke 
felt  called  upon  to  mention  it  among  his  grievances.  On 
the  other  hand,  de  Reynst  was  a  tool  in  the  hands  of 
His  Serene  Highness  the  Prince  Stadtholder  (Prince  of 
Orange),  who,  in  turn,  was  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  Sir 
Joseph. 

The  Duke  (Vauguyon),  Mr.  Dumas,  and  Dr.  Franklin 
now  apprehended  that  de  Reynst  would  take  it  upon  him- 
self to  use  force  at  any  time  he  might  select  to  compel  me 
to  quit  the  Roadstead  with  my  squadron.  I  was  sure  he 
would  do  nothing  worse  than  threaten  at  any  time  ;  but 
they  could  not  be  persuaded  of  it.  By  this  time  an  Eng- 
lish squadron  of  seven  sail,  three  fifties,  three  heavy  frigates 
and  a  sloop-of-war  were  blockading  the  entrance  of  the 
Helder,  and  I  could  not  get  out  except  by  running  their 
gantlet.  The  diplomats  were  sure  that  I  would  fall  into 
the  hands  of  these  as  soon  as  I  might  get  in  the  offing. 
They  found  a  way  to  save  me. 

Finding  that  the  flag  of  the  King  of  France  would  be 
more  respected  by  the  Dutch  than  that  of  the  United 
States,  they  procured,  througli  M.  de  Sartine,  a  provisional 
commission  as  capitain  de  vaisseau  in  the  French  Navy, 
and  this  document  was  personally  tendered  to  me  Decem- 
ber 3d  by  the  Chevalier  de  Livonconrt,  on  behalf  of  M.  de 
Sartine,  and  again  offered  to  and  linally  refused  by  me  on 
the  13th.* 

*  See  letter  of  Paul  .Tones  to  the  Duke  de  la  Vaugiiyon,  December 
13,  1779,  pages  ^25,  426,  Vol.  Ill,  Wharton's  Diplomatic  Correspondence. 

27G 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

I  despaired  of  inducing  my  distinguished  superiors  and 
advisers  to  even  perceive,  much  less  approve,  my  attitude  or 
my  motives.  In  vain  I  expostulated  with  them  tliat  by 
accepting  the  shelter  of  the  French  flag  I  should  do  exactly 
of  all  things  what  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  wished  me  to  do, 
namely,  withdraw  all  pretensions  of  the  United  States  as 
a  party  to  the  situation,  and  thereby  confess  that  the  United 
States  claimed  no  status  as  a  sovereign  power  in  a  neutral 
port. 

They  all  knew  what  I  had  written  to  the  States  General 
on  November  4th,  in  rejoinder  to  Sir  Joseph's  demand  that 
I  be  treated  as  '  *  a  pirate, ' '  and  they  had  approved  it.  I 
now  contended  that  to  seek  shelter  under  the  French  flag  or 
behind  a  French  commission  would  stultify  the  position  I 
then  took  ;  but  none  of  them  would  so  view  it.  On  the 
contrary,  they  all,  but  more  particularly  the  Duke,  endeav- 
ored to  mystify  me  with  a  mass  of  abstrusities  in  diplo- 
matic usage  and  international  law  which  had  no  bearing 
on  the  case  that  I  could  see. 

Finally,  finding  that  we  could  not  get  together,  I  said 
I  would  turn  over  the  prisoners  to  the  French  ambassador 
under  an  agreement  that  their  exchange,  when  effected, 
should  release  an  equal  number  of  American  prisoners  then 
held  in  England  ;  leave  Captain  Cottineau  to  hoist  the 
French  flag  on  the  Pallas,  the  Vengeance,  and  Cottineau's 
prize,  the  Countess  of  Scarboro' ;  and  then  make  the  best  of 
my  way  to  sea  with  the  Serapis  and  Alliance  under  the 
American  flag. 

Then  they  made  difiiculty  about  the  Serapis.  They  said 
that  the  new  mainmast  I  had  succeeded  in  getting  for  her 
was  too  short  and  she  could  not  sail  with  it  well  enough  to 
stand  chance  of  escaping  the  ships  of  the  enemy  on  block- 
ade. I  modestly  suggested  that  I,  being  somewhat  of  a 
seaman,  ought  to  be  left  to  judge  of  that ;  but  they,  none 
of  whom  could  tell  a  main-brace  from  a  marline-spike, 
knew  better,  and  it  was  decided  that  I  could  take  out  only 
the  Alliance. 

277 


PAUL    JONES 

When  I  had  finally  refused  the  French  commission,  all 
reserve  was  thrown  oH.  M.  de  Sardine,  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  France,  served  on  m.e  through  Dr.  Franklin  a  re- 
quest, amounting  of  course  to  an  order,  that  I  should  turn 
over  all  the  prisoners  and  all  the  ships,  except  the  Alliance, 
to  Captain  Cottineau,  and  then  do  what  I  pleased  or  what 
I  could  with  the  Alliance.  I  afterward  found  out  that  this 
order  had  been  procured  at  the  same  time  as  my  French 
commission,  but  held  up  only  to  serve  on  me  as  a  last  re- 
sort if  I  proved  contumacious. 

This  deprivation  of  the  Serapis  was  the  sorest  of  all  my 
wounds.  I  had  long  ago  given  up  hope  of  commanding  the 
Indien.  The  Serapis  had  been  taken  by  an  American  ship 
under  the  American  flag  and  commanded  by  virtue  of  an 
American  commission.  I  could  not  conceiv^e  by  what 
shadow  of  right  M.  de  Sartine  could  claim  her  as  a  French 
prize,  and  he  made  no  attempt  to  set  up  any.  She  was 
the  finest  ship  of  her  rate  I  ever  saw.  I  wished  to  make  a 
cruise  in  her  with  the  Alliance  in  company.  I  had,  in- 
cluding those  recovered  from  their  wounds,  one  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  of  the  Richard's  old  crew,  and  the  Alliance 
had  two  hundred  and  eighty,  nearly  all  Americans.  This 
was  four  hundred  and  forty-seven  men  to  divide  between 
the  two  ships.  I  had  planned  to  take  two  hundred  and 
fifty  in  the  Serapis  and  leave  the  rest  in  the  Alliance  and 
put  Richard  Dale  in  command  of  the  latter.  Of  course  both 
ships  would  have  been  short-handed,  but  I  could  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  first  easterly  gale  to  get  out,  and  I  was  sure 
of  making  Dunkirk  if  not  of  working  through  the  channel 
round  to  I'Orient,  where  I  could  readily  till  up  comple- 
ments, make  all  necessary  refit,  and  be  ready  to  sail  on  an- 
other cruise  in  the  earliest  spring. 

But  all  these  hopes  were  dashed,  I  fell  a  victim  to  diplo- 
matic cabals.  I  believed  then,  and  have  not  since  seen 
reason  to  alter  my  opinion,  that  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont 
was  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  contrivance  ;  and  I  could 
never  assign  any  reason  for  it  except  that  he  wished  to 

278 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

control  the  sale  of  the  Serapis  as  a  prize  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Concordat,  she  being  worth  more  than  all 
the  others  taken,  after  the  three  sent  to  Bergen  had  been 
given  up.  * 

Sad  as  the  foregoing  recital  may  seem,  tlie  situa- 
tion it  describes  was  not  wholly  without  a  spice  of 
humor,  and,  curiously  enough,  the  man  to  leave  that 
side  of  it  on  record  was  none  other  than  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke.  Among  the  papers  in  the  collection  of  Miss 
Janette  Taylor,  the  Commodore's  niece,  was  the  fol- 
lowing. The  preface  bore  evidence  of  having  been 
dictated  by  Jones  himself : 

About  this  time  a  seaman's  wife,  of  Burlington,  named 
Burnet,  addressed  a  letter  to  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  at  The 
Hague  imploring  tidings  of  her  husband,  of  whom,  since 
the  engagement  of  Jones  with  the  Serapis,  she  had  never 
heard,  and  who,  she  feared,  had  fallen  in  the  fight.  Sir 
Joseph  gallantly  and  humanely  complied  with  the  poor 
Englishwoman's  request,  with  a  humorous  hit  at  the  pol- 
icy of  the  Dutch  and  the  shuffling  of  the  French.  Sir 
Joseph  wrote  to  Mrs.  Burnet  as  follows  : 

"Dear  Madam:  :  As  soon  as  I  received  your  letter  of 
the  7th  instant  I  lost  no  time  in  making  inquiries  after 
your  gallant  husband,  Richard  Burnet,  and  have  now  great 
pleasure  in  congratulating  you  upon  his  being  alive  and 
well,  on  board  the  Countess  of  Scarboro'  at  the  Texel. 
It  will  be  a  still  greater  pleasure  if  I  can  get  him 
exchanged,  which  I  am  making  my  best  endeavor  for  ;  but 
as  the  people  who  took  him  are  sometimes  Rebels  and  some- 

*  Jones's  Memorial  of  December  24, 1779,  as  revised  by  him  in  1784  ; 
printed  m  French  Collection,  Pans,  1799.  This  was  one  of  the  papers 
submitted  by  Jones  to  the  Marechale  de  Castries,  then  French  Minister 
of  Marine,  as  part  of  his  case  ia  reclamation  of  prize-money  in  1784-85. 

279 


PAUL    JONES 

times  French,  as  it  suits  their  convenience  to  be,  and  do 
not  remain  one  or  the  other  long  at  a  time,  the  affair  of  ex- 
change of  prisoners  Avith  them  is  difficult.  If  they  should 
conclude  finally  to  be  French  (or  even  Rebels)  and  remain 
so,  I  could  settle  the  exchange  at  once. 

**  I  am  most  happy  to  be  able  to  give  agreeable  news  to 
the  wife  of  my  brave  countryman. 

"Your  most  faithful  servant, 

"Joseph  Yorke. 

*♦  The  Hague,  November  2G,  1779." 

Under  date  of  The  Texel,  December  17,  1779, 
Commodore  Jones  wrote  a  letter  to  Dr.  Bancroft,  in 
which,  after  briefly  adverting  to  the  Landais  inves- 
tigation, in  which  Dr.  Bancroft  represented  him, 
he  said : 

The  situation  here  has  not  materially  changed  since  my 
last.  The  diplomats  (our  own  I  mean)  and  M.  de  Chau- 
mont  have  overcome  me  at  all  points,  I  have  given  up 
my  prisoners  and  prizes  to  the  King,  and  am  now  only 
Captain  of  the  Alliance,  waiting  a  fair  wind  to  sail.  The 
only  satisfaction  I  have  is  that,  in  spite  of  the  diplomats, 
I  have  used  my  position  here  to  strain  the  relations  be- 
tween Holland  and  England  to  a  point  past  mending. 
Nothing  now  keeps  Holland  neutral  except  the  influence  of 
the  ship-owners,  who  are  doing  almost  the  entire  commerce 
of  Europe  at  enormous  rates,  and  the  bankers  of  Amster- 
dam, Avho  are  handling  all  the  Continental  exchanges 
that  before  the  war  went  through  London.  But  the  Dutch 
people  are  for  us  and  for  war.  And  our  cause  has  been 
helped  by  the  arrogance  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke's  demands 
and  the  style  of  dictator  which  he  assumes  for  his  master 
the  King.  Privately,  however,  I  am  told  that  Sir  Joseph 
is  a  clever  old  fellow  and  as  good  a  vis-a-vis  at  dinner  as 
one  could  v/ish. 

280 


A    DirLO:MATIC    DUEL 

Most  unexpectedly  I  encountered  him  for  a  few  moments 
at  the  house  of  M.  Van  Berckel,  the  Grand  Pensionary, 
when  arrangements  were  being  made  for  comfort  of  the 
wounded  prisoners,  who  had  been  landed.  I  had  expected 
to  deal  with  his  secretary,  but  Sir  Joseph  came  himself. 
He  was  most  civil,  and  requested  me,  if  not  too  incon- 
venient, to  supply  him  with  a  list  of  names  of  the  wounded 
and  something  as  to  the  condition  and  prospects  of  each, 
saying  he  wished  to  have  it  because  many  letters  of  inquiry 
came  to  him  about  them  from  relatives  in  England.  This 
I  did  as  soon  as  I  returned  to  the  Texel,  and  he  thanked  me 
through  M.  Van  Berckel.  I  could  not  help  noting,  though, 
that  he  eyed  me  curiously. 

The  only  personal  allusion  he  made  was  to  say  that  he 
presumed  I  had  seen  or  heard  reports  in  print  or  gossip 
that  he  offered  reward  for  the  surreptitious  seizure  of  my 
person,  and  if  so  he  hoped  I  would  view  them  with  suit- 
able contempt.  I  said  I  had  heard  such  rumors,  but  that 
my  knowledge  of  his  character  was  a  sufficient  answer  to 
them ;  for  which  he  thanked  me.  He  offered  to  send  medi- 
cines, blankets,  and  food,  and,  if  necessary,  to  employ  a 
Dutch  physician  to  take  the  place  of  Dr.  Bannatyne,  late 
surgeon  of  the  Serapis,  who  had  broken  down.  I  ac- 
cepted all  his  good  offices  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners  on 
shore. 

Sir  Joseph  said  he  would  send  the  supplies  up  by  a  small 
vessel  from  Amsterdam  to  the  Texel  in  a  day  or  two,  con- 
signed to  me.  But  I,  not  wishing  to  be  responsible  in  any 
way  for  them,  for  fear  that  malicious  enemies  might  accuse 
me  of  appropriating  them — which  I  frankly  said  to  Sir 
Joseph — requested  him  to  consign  such  supplies  as  he  might 
send,  to  Dr.  Edgerly,  late  surgeon  of  the  Scarboro',  who, 
since  the  illness  of  the  kite  chief  surgeon  of  the  Serapis,  had 
been  placed  by  me  in  full  charge  of  his  wounded  country- 
men landed  at  the  Texel  Fort.  Sir  Joseph,  at  once,  most 
politely  expressed  his  approval  of  this  suggestion  and  said 
he  would  consign  the  supplies  to  Dr.  Edgerly,  who,  being 

231 


PAUL   JONES 

a  non-combatant,   was,   of  course,  not  held  under  any  re- 
straint whatsoever  by  me. 

I  returned  that  night  by  land  conveyance  to  the  Ilelder, 
and  went  aboard  my  sliip  the  next  morning.  Two  days 
later  Sir  Joseph  sent  by  a  hoy  from  Amsterdam  a  goodly 
supply  of  medicines,  blankets,  food,  tobacco,  with  consid- 
erable wine  and  some  liquors,  for  the  wounded  and  conva- 
lescent of  his  countrymen.  And  with  the  consignment  of 
these  articles  to  Dr.  Edgerly  as  I  had  requested,  he  sent 
also  a  private  letter  to  that  gentleman,  requesting  him 
to  inform  me  that  if,  as  he  (Sir  Joseph)  suspected,  tlie 
wounded  Americans  might  also  be  in  need  of  such  sup- 
IDlies  as  he  had  sent,  they  should  have  an  impartial  share  ; 
"because,"  said  Sir  Joseph  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Edgerly, 
"we  all  know  that  Old  England  can  never  tell  the  dif- 
ference between  friends  and  foes  among  brave  men  wounded 
in  battle,  even  if  some  of  them  may,  peradventure,  be 
rebels ! ' ' 

I  confess  that  when  Dr.  Edgerly  showed  to  me  this  sen- 
timent of  Sir  Joseph's  I  was  at  loss  for  comment,  and 
said  only  that  nothing  else  could  be  expected  from  an 
English  gentleman  1  But  I  must  also  confess  that  my 
opinion  of  Sir  Joseph  as  a  man  from  that  moment  took 
a  very  wide  divergence  from  my  estimate  of  him  as  an 
Ambassador. 

Fortunately,  however,  thanks  to  the  assiduity  of  the 
Baron  Van  der  Capellen  and  our  other  Dutch  friends  in 
behalf  of  our  own  wounded,  I  was  in  a  position  to  dispense 
Avith  Sir  Joseph's  gentle  charity  as  to  the  wounded  of  our 
own  crew.  Everything  that  charity  could  do  in  that  way 
was  already  being  done  by  the  lovely  Holland  dames  and 
daughters  of  the  Helder,  who  every  day  thronged  the  decks 
of  the  Serapis  and  the  Pallas  with  all  the  delicacies  that 
only  the  good  hearts  of  women  can  contrive  for  the  comfort 
and  succor  of  brave  men  who  have  been  wounded  in  battle. 
Every  day  these  blessed  women  came  to  the  ships  in  great 
numbers — mothers,   daughters,  even  little  girls — bringing 

282 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

with  them  for  our  wounded  sailors  all  the  numberless  little 
comforts  of  Dutch  homes  ;  a  tribute  that  came  from  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  therefore  far  overlaid  in  effect  all 
statecraft  and  all  diplomacy  for  or  against  us  ! 

If  it  be  permissible  to  put  a  political  interpretation  upon 
such  an  avalanche  of  charity  and  benevolence,  I  would 
say  that  this  evidence  of  Dutch  feeling  means  quite  as 
much  popular  sentiment  in  our  favor,  at  the  foundation 
of  Dutch  society,  as  the  natural  generosity  of  the  Dutch 
people. 

Or,  I  might  say,  it  shows  a  latent  resentment  toward 
England  quite  as  clearly  as  an  active  sympathy  with  us.  I 
am  sure  that  the  strain  put  upon  the  relations  between 
Holland  and  England  must  end  in  rupture  between  them 
within  this  year.* 

That  Jones  was  not  mistaken  as  to  the  effect  of 
his  conduct  in  the  Texel  toward  straining  the  re- 
lations of  England  and  Holland  to  the  breaking 
point,  may,  we  think,  be  considered  sufficiently  at- 
tested by  the  text  of  the  first  count  in  the  bill  of 
grievances  set  forth  in  the  royal  proclamation  of  a 
state  of  war  against  Holland,  dated  "  St.  James, 
December  20,  1780."  f  This  first  count  of  grievance 
was  as  follows : 

That,  in  violation  of  treaty,  they  [the  States-General]  suf- 
fered an  American  Pirate  (one  Paul  Jones,  a  Rebel,  and 
State  Criminal)  to  remain  several  weeks  in  one  of  their 
ports ;  and  even  permitted  a  part  of  his  crew  to  mount 
guard  (with  arms  and  munitions,  under  his  authority)  in 
one  of  their  Forts  in  the  Texel. 

*Thi8  letter  was  written  December  17,  1779.  War  was  declared  be- 
tween England  and  Holland  December  19,  17S0. 

t  See  Minute  of  Order  in  Council  of  the  same  date,  British  Foreign 
Office  Papers. 

283 


PAUL    JONES 

Isolated  by  the  diplomats,  and  single-lianded  as 
he  was,  Jones  did  not  give  up  the  Serapis  without 
a  struggle.  Under  date  of  March  21,  1781,  after  his 
return  to  the  United  States,  he  addressed  to  Con- 
gress through  the  Marine  Committee  (then  termed 
the  Board  of  AdmiraltjO  a  review  of  all  his  op- 
erations between  sailing  from  Portsmouth  in  the 
Banger,  November  1, 1777,  and  the  date  of  his  return 
home  in  the  Ariel,  February  7,  1781.  In  this  review 
he  says  : 

23.  I  had  command  of  the  Serapis  from  the  time  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  sunk  until  she  (the  Serapis)  was  remasted, 
repaired,  and  fit  for  sea  at  the  Texel. 

24.  When  ready  for  sea  I  received  a  letter  from  His  Ex- 
cellency Benjamin  Franklin,  Esq.,  referring  me  to  the  Am- 
bassador of  France  (the  Duke  de  la  Vauguyon),  who  sent 
for  me  to  come  to  Amsterdam  ;  and  after  a  dispute  of  thir- 
teen hours  I  yielded  to  go  from  on  board  the  Serapis  to 
command  of  the  Alliance.  This  because  I  was  solemnly 
assured  upon  the  honor  of  the  Ambassador  that  it  was  the 
personal  wish  of  my  benefactor,  His  Majesty  the  King  of 
France.  But  I  afterward  understood  that  it  was  brought 
about  by  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont. 

"WTien  Commodore  Jones  transferred  his  flag  from 
the  Serapis  to  the  Alliance,  he  assembled  all  the  sea- 
men of  both  crews  who  were  not  French  subjects  on 
board  the  latter ;  and  he  then  gave  to  the  aliens  in 
the  two  crews  the  opportunity,  if  the}^  desired,  to 
take  honorable  discharges  with  certificates  of  their 
shares  of  XDrize-money.  Only  thirty -five  availed 
themselves  of  this  offer,  mostly  Portuguese  and 
English.  All  the  Swedes  and  Nor^vegians  remained, 
declaring  themselves  American  citizens,  about  forty, 

284 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

altogether,  in  both  crews.  The  total  number  now 
on  board  the  Alliance  was  four  hundred  and  twelve, 
which  was  one  hundred  in  excess  of  her  full  comple- 
ment, and  more  than  she  could  comfortably  berth. 
One  clause  in  the  order  of  M.  de  Sartine  forbade 
Jones  taking  any  French  subjects  in  the  Alliance ; 
but  five  French  volunteers  of  the  Eichard's  old  crew 
stowed  themselves  away,  and  appeared  on  deck  as 
soon  as  the  Alliance  got  outside.  They  were  Pierre 
Gerard,  Pierre  Fanchot,  Denis  Bouchinet,  Baptiste 
Travaille,  and  Leonard  La  Eoche. 

We  cannot,  at  this  point,  do  better  than  let 
Nathaniel  Fanning  relate  the  brief  history  of  the 
uneventful  cruise  of  the  Alliance  from  the  Texel, 
with  incidental  comment  by  Paul  Jones.  Fanning 
says: 

On  Christmas  day  an  easterly  gale  began,  which  soon  com- 
pelled the  English  fleet  cruising  in  front  of  the  Texel  to  make 
an  ofiBng,  all  but  one  or  two  of  their  frigates  being  driven 
quite  off  the  coast.  In  the  afternoon  of  December  36th  the 
wind  abated  and  about  10  o'clock  that  night  Jones  stood 
out  to  sea  in  the  Alliance  and  boldly  shaped  his  course  for 
the  Straits  of  Dover.  He  now  ran  through  the  Straits  of 
Dover  and  down  the  English  Channel,  passing  close  enough 
in  to  fire  a  shot  at  the  Channel  fleet  anchored  off  Spithead, 
and  then  cruised  as  far  south  as  Curunna,  where  he  re- 
mained two  weeks,  watering  and  victualling  his  ship. 
Spain  being  at  that  time  at  war  with  England,  the  Alliance 
was  most  cordially  received  and  the  civilities  of  the  town 
were  exhausted  in  entertaining  Commodore  Jones  and  his 
officers.  The  crew  of  the  Alliance  at  this  time  numbered 
four  hundred  and  twelve  officers,  seamen,  and  marines. 

On  January  28,  1780,  having  refitted,  watered,  and  vict- 
ualled the  Alliance,  Jones  sailed  from  Corunna  for  I'Ori- 

285 


TAUL   JONES 

ent.  It  has  been  stated  that  he  had  a  hirge  crew,  composed 
almost  entirely  of  Americans.  Some  of  them  were  survivors 
of  the  old  crew  of  the  Richard,  others  were  those  detaxjhed 
into  the  Alliance  at  I'Orient  in  July,  1779. 

The  second  day  out  from  Corunna  the  jack-o'-the-dust 
handed  to  Commodore  Jones  a  petition  signed  by  the  entire 
crew.     It  was  as  follows  : 

"We  respectfully  request  you,  sir,  to  \^y  us  alongside  any 
single-decked  English  ship  to  be  found  in  these  seas,  or  any 
double-decked  ship  under  a  fifty."  [That  is,  rating  not 
more  than  fifty  guns.] 

This  was  not  a  "  round  robin,"  but  a  straight  petition, 
headed  by  old  John  C.  Robinson,  the  boatswain,  and  signed 
in  order  of  rating  by  every  member  of  the  crew,  including 
the  cooks  and  cabin  boys. 

In  his  journal  of  1787  Commodore  Jones  says  of 
this  incident : 

When  this  paper  was  handed  to  me  I  could  hardly  control 
my  feelings.  I  at  once  mustered  the  crew  and  told  them 
that  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  return  to  I'Orient  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  that  we  were  not  prepared  for  a  long  cruise. 
I  also  told  them  that,  the  season  being  midwinter,  we 
would  not  have  much  chance  of  encountering  English  cruis- 
ers of  force  similar  to  our  own  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  But  I 
promised  them  that  I  would  keep  a  good  lookout  and,  if 
occasion  presented,  would  conform  exactly  to  the  terms  of 
their  petition. 

Knowing  their  spirit  as  I  did,  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to 
lay  our  little  thii*ty-six-gun  twelve-pounder  frigate  up  along- 
side anything  English  that  might  get  in  our  way  up,  to  and 
including  a  fifty.  But  none  such  got  in  our  way.  I  stood  off 
and  on  for  two  weeks  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  looking  for  any- 
thing from  a  frigate  to  a  fifty,  but  no  English  man-of-war 
of  any  rate  crossed  us.  Therefore,  the  weather  being  bad 
and  our  time  for  arrival  at  I'Orient  limited,  1  bore  up  for 

286 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

Isle  au  Groaix  and  anchored  in  the  harbor  of  1' Orient  Feb- 
ruary 14th,  1780. 

In  view  of  the  condition  of  the  ship  and  the  strong  force 
and  fierce  temper  of  my  crew,  I  am  persuaded  that  our  fail- 
ure to  encounter  an  English  ship  of  reasonably  equal  force 
was  a  misfortune  to  our  cause.  Knowing  the  strength  and 
spirit  of  my  crew  as  I  did,  I  would  not  have  hesitated  to 
lay  the  Alliance  close  aboard  of  any  fifty-gun  ship  in  the 
English  JSTavy. 

My  regular  complement  was  only  three  hundred  and 
twelve,  and  I  had  over  one  hundred  in  excess  of  it.  No 
English  fifty-gun  ship  had  as  many  men  in  her  regular 
complement  as  I  had  on  the  Alliance,  and  my  experience  in 
the  Ranger  and  the  Richard  had  taught  me  that  men  mean 
more  than  guns  in  the  rating  of  a  siiip,  provided  that  the 
men  are  American  sailors  and  the  Commander  knows  how 
to  use  them. 

Besides  this,  the  Alliance  was  a  much  smarter  sailer, 
quicker  worker,  and  shiftier  handler  than  any  British  ship 
of  any  rate.  This,  with  my  great  deck  force  to  work  ship, 
would  have  enabled  me  to  lay  an  enemy  on  board  very 
early  in  the  action,  with  any  reasonable  luck.  And  I  was 
sure  that  if  I  could  once  lay  that  crew  on  board  an  Eng- 
lish ship  anywhere  near  our  rate,  the  rest  of  the  action 
would  take  care  of  itself.  No  one  who  knew  their  feelings 
as  I  did  could  doubt  the  result.'^ 

*  While  the  Alliance  lay  in  the  port  of  Corunna,  an  incident  occurred 
which  illustrates  the  tact  of  Commodore  Jones  in  affairs  of  discipline. 
Certain  junior  officers,  as  related  by  Fanning,  had  in  some  way  made  the 
acquaintance  of  certain  nuns  belonging  to  a  convent  there.  These  nuns 
met  the  junior  officers — who,  by  the  way,  were  Mayrant  and  Tom  Potter 
— at  the  house  of  a  cordwainer  near  the  convent.  They  were  surprised 
there  by  the  Spanish  police,  and  the  officers  were  placed  in  the  calabozo, 
while  the  nnns  were  hustled  back  to  their  convent.  This  event  occurred 
at  quite  a  late  hour,  and  the  Commodore  happened  to  be  on  shore,  dining 
with  the  Governor  of  the  city.  The  affair  was  reported  to  the  Governor 
just  as  the  party  was  about  to  rise  from  table.  As  the  ship  was  to  sail 
next  day  but  one,  Coramodore  Jones  requested  the  Governor  to  allow  him 

287 


PAUL   JONES 

In  his  journal  of  1787  Commodore  Jones  describes 
what  occurred  on  his  arrival  at  I'Orient  as  follows  : 

Our  arrival  at  I'Orient  demonstrated  anew  the  avidity  of 
French  owners  to  get  American  officers,  and,  as  far  as  they 
could,  American  seamen  for  their  privateers.  This  was 
not  easy,  because  to  command  their  privateers  it  was  of 
course  requisite  to  speak  French,  which  many  of  our  young 
officers  could  not  do.  There  was  at  this  time  a  great  asso- 
ciation of  French  merchants  and  bankers  that  owned  many 
ships  and  possessed  much  capital,  engaged  wholly  in  priva- 
teering. The  managers  of  this  enterprise  were  M.  Mon- 
thieu,  of  Paris,  and  M.  Marcereau,  of  Nantes.  Their  prin- 
cipal ports  were  Dunkirk  and  St.  Maloes. 

Very  soon  after  I  had  warped  the  Alliance  in  from  Isle 
au  Groaix  to  the  inner  harbor  of  I'Orient  and  begun  to 
strip  her  for  a  much-needed  overhaul,  M.  Marcereau  came 
over  from  Nantes  in  person  to  get  me  to  help  him  recruit 
some  Americans  for  two  line  new  privateers  belonging  to 
his  association,  then  ready  for  sea  at  St.  Maloes.     I  had 

to  take  the  offenders  •on  board,  promising  to  visit  upon  them  the  most 
condign  punishment.  His  Excellency  was  polite  enough  to  agree  with 
this,  and  the  two  culprits  were  taken  from  the  calabozo  and  cent  aboard 
considerably  past  midnight.  The  next  day  a  summary  court-martial  was 
convened,  which  "  sentenced  "  May  rant  and  Potter  to  deprivation  of  their 
rank,  and  other  penalties. 

"  This  finding,"  says  Fanning,  "the  Commodore  translated  into  Span- 
ish, engrossed  a  copy  of  it  with  his  own  hand  and  forwarded  the  same  to 
His  Excellency  the  Governor,  by  the  hand  of  Lieutenant  Ned  Stack, 
supported  by  Midshipman  Linthwaite  and  myself.  His  Excellency  ex- 
pressed complete  satisfaction  at  the  promptness  and  thoroughness  of  the 
Commodore's  action,  saying  it  was  much  better  that  the  affair  should 
have  taken  that  course  than  to  have  detained  the  offenders  for  punish- 
ment by  the  Spanish  authorities,  which  might  have  caused  complica- 
tions. But  the  day  after  leaving  port  the  Commodore  reviewed  the  case 
and  peremptorily  set  the  proceedings  aside  on  the  ground  that  the  pun- 
uhmerit  was  inadequate  to  the  offense!  This  left  Mayrant  and  Potter  as 
they  were  before,  and  they  of  course  resumed  duty,  subject  only  to  the 
raillery  of  their  messmates— for  gettin^r  caught." 

288 


A   DIPLOMATIC   DUEL 

then  in  the  Alliance  the  four  hundred  and  twelve  Ameri- 
cans and  the  five  Frenchmen  who  had  gone  out  from  the 
Texel  with  me.  In  addition  to  these  I  had  found  twenty- 
two  American  seamen  adrift  at  Corunna  who  had  been  re- 
captured in  an  English  prize  by  the  Spanish  frigate  El 
Torreador.  This  made  four  hundred  and  thirty-nine  in 
all,  and  I  could  easily  spare  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
or  one  hundred  and  thirty  of  them  and  still  have  a  full 
complement  for  the  Alliance. 

I  therefore  brought  M.  Marcereau  and  my  young  officers 
together,  with  result  that  Mr.  Nathaniel  Fanning  and  Mr. 
John   Mayrant    soon    made  engagement  with  him.     The 
French  privateer  owners  had  a  fashion,  when  they  secured 
an  American  officer  to  command,    of   putting  on  board, 
under  the  guise  of  a  so-called  *'  agent-comptable  "  (literally, 
*' purser"),  a  real  commander  by  virtue  of  the  articles  or 
"concordat"  they  would  make  the  American  sign,  and  also 
by  operation  of  the  French  regulations  governing  letters-of- 
marque.     Under  such  an  arrangement,  as  my  friend,  poor 
Conyngham,  had  found  to  his  cost,  and  as  I  myself  was  not 
wholly  inexperienced  in,  the  man  who  should  be  captain 
was  in  effect  reduced  to  the  rank  and  authority  of  sailing- 
master.     Thus  as  soon  as  the  preliminaries  were  over,  M. 
Marcereau,  with  the  usual  bland  politeness  of  his  race,  pro- 
duced his  **  concordat  "  for  Mayrant  and  Fanning  to  sign. 
Looking  it  over  I  found  that  it  was  the  usual  form,  recit- 
ing that  the  letter-of-marque  is  made  out  in  the  name  of 
the  "agent-comptable,"  representing  the  owners,  thereby 
making  the  captain  a  colleague  if  not  a  subordinate  of  his 
ship's  purser. 

I  at  once  explained  this  to  Fanning  and  Mayrant  and 
pointed  out  the  difficulties  and  distractions  such  an  agree- 
ment must  subject  them  to.  They  without  hesitation 
agreed  with  me,  and  declared  they  would  not  go  under  such 
conditions. 

M.  Marcereau  pleaded  that  it  was  a  mere  affair  of  form, 
necessary  under  existing   letter-of-marque   regulations.     I 
Vol.  I.— 19  289 


TAUL   JONES 

denied  this  and  said  there  was  no  reason  why  the  letters-of- 
marque  should  not  be  made  out  in  the  names  of  Fanning 
and  Mayrant,  who  were  to  command  the  ships.  M.  Marce- 
reau  said  that  the  King's  letters-of-marque  could  run  only 
in  the  names  of  the  King's  subjects,  which  I  knew  was 
not  true. 

Embittered  by  my  own  recent  experience,  I  told  him  he 
had  better,  then,  get  French  subjects  to  command  his  ships, 
and  frankly  assured  him  that  my  boys  should  not  with  my 
consent  enter  his  service  under  such  conditions  as  he  pro- 
posed. Waxing,  perhaps,  a  little  warm,  I  told  him  that 
the  whole  Kingdom  of  France,  in  all  its  history,  had  never 
bred  two  seamen  as  brave  and  capable  as  my  two  boys  who 
stood  before  him,  Mayrant  and  Fanning,  and  that  they 
were  by  no  means  beggars  for  his  service,  as  I  would  see 
them  properly  taken  care  of  under  their  own  flag,  in  the 
event  of  his  not  agreeing  with  them  suitably  to  my  views. 
I  also  told  M.  Marcereau  that  he  and  his  associates  would 
never,  with  my  consent,  be  permitted  to  play  with  Mayrant 
and  Fanning  the  part  that  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont  had 
played  with  me. 

M.  Marcereau,  seeing  that  I  was  not  to  be  fooled  by 
any  French  rogue  whatsoever,  and  wanting  above  all 
things  that  my  boys  should  command  his  ships,  now  asked 
what  would  satisfy  me  to  let  them  go.  I  said  simply  that 
I  would  be  satisfied  if  the  letters-of-marque  were  filled  out 
in  their  names  both  as  captain  and  as  '*  agent-comptable, " 
and  nothing  short  of  it.  He  then  said  he  was  not  author- 
ized to  do  this,  when  I  told  him  it  was  immaterial  to  me 
what  he  was  or  was  not  authorized  to  do  ;  that  I  had  my 
fill  to  the  full  of  French  chicanery  and  that  unless  he  could 
take  my  boys  on  my  terms  he  could  leave  them  as  they 
were,  with  me. 

He  then  withdrew  and  we  all  thought  it  was  ended.  But 
not  so.  The  next  day  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
he  came  again  aboard  the  Alliance  with  papers  filled  out  in 
the  form  1  had  insisted  on.     I  then  wrote  and  attached  to 

290 


A    DIPLOMxVTIC   DUEL 

the  backs  of  the  two  letters-of-inarque  the  following  in- 
dorsement : 

"  It  is  agreed  and  understood  and  solemnly  covenanted 
that  the  within  letters-of-marque  and  reprisal,  running  in 
the  name  and  drawn  by  the  sovereign  authority  of  His 
Most  Christian  Majesty  Louis  XVI.,  King  of  France  and 
Navarre,  for  tlie  said  ships,  namely  :  the  brig-sloop  I'E- 
clipse,  and  the  ship-sloop  La  Bonne  Aventure  mentioned 
in  the  attached  articles,  shall,  pending  and  until  further 
orders  of  His  Majesty,  commit  the  said  ships  to  the  sole 
and  unquestioned  command  of  Nathaniel  Fanning  and 
John  May  rant.  Midshipmen  and  Acting  Lieutenants  in  the 
American  Continental  Navy,  and  that  such  further  orders 
as  are  mentioned  shall  not  be  made  until  after  the  said 
Fanning  and  Mayrant  shall  have  completed  at  their  discre- 
tion at  least  one  cruise  in  the  said  ships.  And  it  is  further 
covenanted  and  agreed  that  no  letter,  paper,  or  authority 
of  any  kind  issued  to  or  lodged  in  the  hands  of  any  person 
whomsoever  shall  in  any  way  or  to  any  degree  supersede  or 
limit  the  sole  power  granted  to  the  said  Fanning  and  the 
said  Mayrant  by  the  within  letters-of-marque  on  the  part  of 
His  Majesty  and  confirmed  by  the  owners  of  the  said  vessels 
by  the  indorsement  foregoing ;  this  22d  day  of  February, 
A.D.  1780." 

This  indorsement  I  made  M.  Marcereau  sign  and  attest  on 
behalf  of  his  Association  in  due  form,  and  had  it  witnessed 
by  Richard  Dale  and  Edward  Stack,  whereupon  I  counter- 
signed the  indorsement  in  my  own  name  on  behalf  of  May- 
rant  and  Fanning.  This  I  did  for  the  purpose  of  exhibit- 
ing that  they  were  acting  in  such  capacity  by  my  orders,  as 
detached  on  particular  service,  so  that  no  prejudice  could 
be  made  as  to  the  continuance  of  their  commissions  or 
warrants  as  American  officers.  The  officers  involved  in 
these  proceedings  were  John  Mayrant,  acting  lieutenant ; 
Thomas  Potter,  midshipman,  and  Reuben  Chase,  master's 
mate,  of  the  late  Bon  Homme  Richard,  who  entered  as 
commander,   first    lieutenant,  and    second   lieutenant,    re- 

291 


PAUL   JONES 

spectively,  of  La  Bonne  Aventure  ;  and  Nathaniel  Fan- 
ning, acting  lieutenant,  and  Henry  Gardner,  gunner  of 
the  aforesaid,  who  entered  as  commander  and  first  lieu- 
tenant, respectively,  of  1' Eclipse. 

Having  at  last  satisfactorily  arranged  these  vexatious 
details  in  a  manner  to  protect  the  interests  of  my  boys 
and  give  them  actual  as  well  as  nominal  command  of 
their  ships,  I  issued  a  formal  order  directing  Mr.  May- 
rant  and  Mr.  Fanning  and  the  other  officers  selected  to 
proceed  on  duty  on  board  the  said  ships  for  particular 
service.  To  the  enlisted  men  who  accompanied  them  I 
gave  honorable  discharges  with  prize-money  certificates. 
These  acts  were  approved  by  his  excellency  Dr.  Franklin. 
I  took  this  course  to  preserve  the  rank  and  status  of 
the  officers  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  without 
prejudice  by  reason  of  their  accepting  foreign  letters-of- 
marque. 

The  number  volunteering  was  five  officers  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  men,  of  whom  three  officers  and  sixty- 
four  men  joined  the  ship-sloop  La  Bonne  Aventure  and 
two  officers  and  sixty-one  men  joined  the  brig-sloop  TE- 
clipse,  the  crews  in  each  ship  being  made  up  to  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  by  French- 
men, and  all  of  course  under  the  French  flag  and  navy 
regulations  provided  for  the  government  of  letters-of- 
marque.  They  sailed  from  St.  Maloes,  March  5,  1780,  the 
Bonne  Aventure  commanded  by  Mayrant,  the  Eclipse  by 
Fanning,  and  they  arranged  rank  according  to  their  re- 
spective places  in  the  roster  of  the  Richard,  which  made 
Mayrant  the  senior  officer. 

Their  cruises,  lasting  about  twenty  months,  were  the 
most  daring  and  successful  in  the  annals  of  French  priva- 
teering ;  due  wholly,  I  am  persuaded,  to  their  freedom 
from  interference  by  "concordats"  and  *' agents-comp- 
tables. "  They  inflicted  damage  upon  the  enemy's  com- 
merce amounting  by  actual  appraisement  to  more  than  two 
hundred  thousand  pounds  sterUng. 

21)3 


A    DIPLOMATIC    DUEL 

Though  Commodore  Jones  had  given  Mayrant  and 
Fanning  carte  hlancke  in  the  selection  of  the  men 
he  was  willing  to  let  go  with  them,  he  apparently- 
winced  somewhat  when  he  saw  the  result.  Almost 
without  exception  the  seamen  who  went  with  them 
were  the  young,  stalwart,  adventurous  fellows, 
largely  from  the  remnant  of  the  Eichard's  crew. 
They  were  all  Americans,  too,  except  about  twenty 
who  were  Swedes  and  Norwegians  ;  and  these,  in 
Jones's  estimation,  had  little  or  no  odds  to  ask  of  his 
Americans  as  prime  sailors.  He  more  than  once  re- 
fers to  this  fact  in  his  subsequent  papers,  and  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  absence  of  these  men 
had  much  to  do  with  the  misfortunes  that  befell  the 
Alliance  a  little  later.  They  were  surely  the  bone 
and  sinew  of  his  crew. 


293 


CHAPTEE  XI 

AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

Commodore  Jones  ancliorecl  the  Alliance  at  I'Ori- 
ent  the  10th  of  Februaiy,  1780.  He  was  destined 
to  pass  the  ensuing-  j^ear  almost  wholly  on  shore  in 
France.  Though  not  marked  by  either  opportuni- 
ties or  successes  in  his  profession,  it  was  yet  in  many 
respects  the  most  interesting  if  not  most  important 
year  of  his  life.  His  first  care,  after  arranging,  as 
has  been  described  in  a  previous  chapter,  with  mas- 
terly skill  and  affectionate  forethought,  a  privateer- 
ing cruise  for  his  "  two  gallant  boys,"  as  he  fondly 
called  John  Mayrant  and  Nathaniel  Fanning,  was  to 
provide  for  a  general  overhaul  and  refit  of  the  Alli- 
ance. While  he  had  been  making  his  cruise  to 
Corunna  in  the  latter  ship,  the  Serapis,  under  the 
French  flag,  had  been  brought  round  from  the  Texel 
to  rOrient  and  was  moored  in  the  dockyard  basin 
for  repair  and  refit.  She  had  been  appraised  as  a 
*'  King's  prize "  and  was  to  be  sold  under  French 
prize  laws,  and  the  Minister  of  Marine  had  decreed 
that  240,000  livres  (about  SGO,000)  should  be  paid 
for  her  as  prize-money  to  the  captors. 

Jones  now  renewed  his  hope  of  getting  command 
of  her,  when  refitted,  and  Dr.  Franklin  used  all  pos- 
sible diplomatic  effort  to  aid  him  in  his  aspiration. 
There  was  at  one  time,  not  long  after  the  Alliance 

294 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

got  into  port,  so  good  a  prospect  of  success  in  tliis 
endeavor  that  Jones  expressed  regret  at  having  let 
Mayrant  and  Fanning  go,  with  their  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  American  and  Scandinavian  sail- 
ors, in  the  two  French  privateers  already  described. 
In  'a  letter  to  Dr.  Bancroft,  under  date  of  March 
17th,  he  says  : 

If  I  get  the  Serapis,  of  which  my  advices  from  Dr.  Frank- 
lin and  M.  de  Genet  lead  me  to  be  hopeful,  I  shall  miss 
sadly  my  gallant  boys,  Fanning  and  Mayrant,  and  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  Yankee  sea-tigers  they  took  with 
them  in  the  privateers.     As  you  know,  Fanning  is  the  man 
who  threw  the  hand-grenade  from  the  Richard's  main  yard 
down  through  the  hatch  of  the  Serapis  that  blew  up  the 
enemy's  lower  tier,  and  did  more  than  any  other  one  thing 
to  decide  the  battle.     And  Mayrant  is  the  man  who  led  the 
Richard's  boarders  to  storm  the  decks  of  the  enemy  and 
finish  the  fight.     I  cannot  find  two   more  like  them,  yet 
when  they  had  opportunity  to  better  the  poor  fortunes  held 
out  by  the  unrequited  service  of  our  OAvn  neglected  and 
mismanaged  navy,  I  could  not  fuid  it  in  my  heart  to  say 
them  nay.     So  they  are  gone— the  apples  of  my  eyes,   I 
might  say— and,  what  is  worse,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  others  they  took  with  them  were  the  pick  and  flower 
of  my  old  crews.     All  who  volunteered  to  go  with  them 
were   young   men  ;   hardly  any  that  I  can  think  of  over 
twenty-four  or  twenty-flve  years  old  ;  nearly  all  American 
sailors,  many  of  them  whalemen,  some  who  had  served  with 
me  in  the  Ranger,  and  a  few  as  far  back  as  the  cruises  of 
the  Providence  and  the  Alfred.     But  they  are  all  gone  now 
and  cannot  be  recalled.     The  only  consolation  I  have  is 
that  they  will  be  heard  from,  and  it  need  surprise  no  one 
if  the  first  news  of  them  comes  from  the  East  Indian  seas  ; 
for  I  am  sure  their  daring  souls  will  never  be  content  with 
the  doldrums  of  the  Atlantic. 

295 


PAUL   JONES 

As  it  is,  after  sending  the  sick  on  shore,  and  discharging 
a  few  malcontents  in  preference  to  trying  to  coerce  them  by 
punishment,  I  now  have  two  hundred  and  seventy  good 
men  in  tlie  Alliance.  Most  of  them  are  nearly  at  the  end 
of  their  enlistments,  but  they  will  all  or  nearly  all  re- 
engage if  there  is  sure  prospect  of  another  cruise.  But  if 
1  get  the  Serapis  I  shall  need  at  least  three  hundred  more. 
One  hundred  and  twenty  have  recently  arrived  in  a  cartel 
at  Nantes,  just  exchanged  from  English  prisons  for  the 
wounded  or  convalescent  of  Pearson's  crew  that  I  left  in 
the  Texel.  Mr.  Dale  will  proceed  to  Nantes  to  recruit  as 
many  as  he  can  of  these.  The  rest  I  probably  can,  if  neces- 
sary, fill  up  with  French  volunteers. 

The  foregoing"  letter  was  dated  in  March,  before 
Jones  had  reason  to  apprehend  losing  control  of 
the  Alliance.  In  another  letter,  also  to  Bancroft, 
dated  December  1st,  while  the  Ariel  was  fitting  out 
for  her  second  sailing,  and  when  he  had  high 
hopes  of  obtaining  the  frigate  Terpsichore,  he 
wrote : 

I  cherish  now  a  hope  of  getting  the  Serapis  for  myself, 
keeping  the  Ariel  for  Mr.  Dale,  and  not  only  that,  but  the 
Duke  (de  Chartres)  is  doing  all  he  can  to  get  the  Terp- 
sichore— which  is  the  frigate  he  came  to  the  Chesapeake  in 
during  the  Spring  of  1775 — placed  under  my  orders.  She 
will  be  commanded  by  a  protege  of  the  Duke— Captain  de 
Roberdeau — and  have  a  French  crew.  I  shall  rely  much 
on  your  interest  at  court  and  particularly  on  your  access 
to  the  new  Minister  of  Marine,  Marechal  de  Castries,  to  help 
me  in  this.  With  the  present  crew  of  the  Ariel  and  what 
recruits  can  be  got  at  this  and  other  ports  near,  I  can 
muster  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  Americans,  and  these 
with,  say,  two  hundred  French  volunteers,  will  crew  both 
ships. 

296 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

But  these  fair  hopes  were  doomed  to  be  shattered. 
The  actual  destiny  that  befell  Jones  and  his  plans 
would  be  a  long  story  if  we  should  attempt  to  trace 
its  history  in  detail,  as  set  forth  in  the  voluminous 
correspondence  on  the  subject  which,  during*  the 
months  from  April  to  December,  1780,  passed  be- 
tween Jones  and  Dr.  Franklin,  Jones  and  Genet, 
First  Secretary  (or  as  we  would  say,  Chief  Clerk) 
of  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs ;  Jones  and  the 
Count  de  Maurepas,  Prime  Minister  ;  Jones  and  the 
Count  de  Yergennes,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs ; 
Jones  and  the  Duchess  de  Chartres ;  Jones  and 
Madame  Campan,  Genet's  daughter,  then  First  Lady 
of  Marie  Antoinette's  household  ;  Jones  and  Dr. 
Bancroft ;  Jones  and  Kobert  Morris ;  and  many 
others — including,  of  course,  what  Jones  sardoni- 
cally describes  at  a  later  period  as  "  my  involuntary 
exchanges  at  a  much  longer  range  than  I  wished 
with  the  Honorable  Ai'thur  Lee." 

The  whole  or  nearly  all  of  this  correspondence 
may  be  found  in  Wharton,  in  the  Collection  of  Miss 
Janette  Taylor,  in  the  Bancroft  Collection,  in  the 
Sherburne  Collection,  in  the  Gardner  PaiDers,  or  in 
the  French  Collection  of  1799.  Taken  together  and 
reproduced  verbatim  it  would  fill  a  small  volume. 
In  the  Janette  Taylor  Collection,  which  does  not 
embrace  all  the  correspondence,  forty-six  pages  of 
print  are  given  up  to  it,  and  in  the  French  Collec- 
tion thirty- two  pages.  The  reader  of  it  m  extenso 
can  do  no  less  than  marvel  at  the  facility  of  diction 
and  the  versatility  of  adaptation  that  Jones  exhib- 
ited in  this  volume  of  writing,  sometimes  in  English 
and  sometimes  in  French ;  and  not  only  that,  but  at 

297 


PAUL    JONES 

the  same  time  closely  superintending  the  overhaul 
of  the  Alliance,  keeping  an  eye  on  the  repair  of  the 
Serapis,  arranging  for  enlistment  of  seamen  and  be- 
sieging the  French  court  for  return  and  settlement 
of  prize-moneys  due  to  his  impoverished  crews. 
And  even  this  is  not  all  that  he  had  to  occupy  this 
time  ;  for  during  the  same  period  he  made  several 
journeys  between  I'Orient  and  Paris  and  I'Orient 
and  Nantes,  and  was,  whenever  in  Paris,  or  Ver- 
sailles, constantly  feted  and  lionized  everywhere  by 
everybody. 

Unquestionably  this  ceaseless  activity,  both  phys- 
ical and  mental,  and  this  reckless,  wasteful  expend- 
iture of  energy  without  due  rest  or  recreation,  had 
much  if  not  all  to  do  with  the  general  weakening 
that  resulted  in  his  untimely  death  a  few  years  later, 
at  the  age  of  only  forty-six  years.  He  has  himself 
left  record  of  these  facts.  In  his  last  journal,  that 
of  1791,  he  says  : 

My  greatest  trouble  in  those  years  was  inability  to  get 
sound  or  refreshing  sleep.  I  can  say,  without  the  slight- 
est exaggeration,  that  from  my  sailing  from  Portsmouth, 
November  1,  1777,  in  the  Ranger,  to  my  arrival  at  Phila- 
delphia, February  18,  1781,  in  the  Ariel,  I  had  never 
known  what  it  was  to  sleep  four  hours  at  a  time.  I 
could  never  turn  in  without  something  on  my  mind  to 
keep  me  wakeful,  and  many  times  I  had  to  rise  and  re- 
sume my  duties  more  fatigued  than  when  I  lay  down  to  a 
delusive  rest.  As  early  as  1780,  from  much  writing  at  night, 
by  the  bad  light  of  ship's  lamps  and  from  my  indisposition 
to  employ  the  aid  of  eye-glasses,  my  sight  began  to  be  im- 
paired. But  I  still  put  resolute  trust  in  the  strong  consti- 
tution nature  had  blest  me  with  and  in  the  rigid  habit  of 
temperateness  in  the  use  of  the  good  things  of  this  life  that 

298 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

I  had  always  inflexibly  forced  myself  to  observe.  If  I  drank 
wine  it  was  always  sparingly  ;  as  little  as  might  be  consist- 
ent with  the  due  etiquette  of  the  dinner-table  socially  ;  or 
sometimes  for  a  stimulant  when  in  the  face  of  work  that 
must  be  finished  before  sleeping,  I  might  quaff  a  little  sack 
(champagne)  to  keep  me  from  falling  down.  As  for  fiery 
liquors,  I  never  touched  them  in  any  guise,  and  was  as 
much  a  stranger  to  the  taste  of  rum  or  brandy  as  to  that  of 
ratsbane. 

This  from  anyone  but  Paul  Jones  might  be  con- 
sidered a  rather  gratuitous  self-certificate  of  tem- 
perance and  continence ;  but  as  everything  that  he 
wrote  was  written  with  the  idea  that  he  ought  to  take 
the  world,  present  and  future,  into  his  confidence, 
and  also  that  history  would  in  remote  times  thank 
him  for  his  candor,  it  does  not  seem  amiss  to  repro- 
duce here  the  foregoing  passage  of  unconscious 
egotism. 

Early  in  June  the  overhaul  of  the  Alliance  was 
done.  Dr.  Franklin  had  groaned  under  the  expense, 
to  meet  which  had  often  put  the  good  old  philoso- 
pher at  his  wits'  ends,  and  his  remonstrances  with 
Jones  in  the  interest  of  economy  at  this  period  are — 
or  would  be  if  we  could  lose  sight  of  the  poverty  of 
the  United  States  then — almost  comical.  In  one 
case,  which  may  illustnite  all,  the  good  old  Doctor 
says,  under  date  of  April  30,  1780  : 

.  .  .  The  whole  expense  will  therefore  fall  upon  me, 
and  I  am  ill  provided  to  bear  it,  having  so  many  unex- 
pected calls  upon  me  from  other  quarters.  I  therefore  beg 
you,  my  dear  Commodore,  that  you  would  have  mercy  on 
me,  put  me  to  as  little  charge  as  possible,  and  take  noth- 
ing that  you  can  possibly  do  without.     ...     I  approve 

299 


PAUL   JONES 

your  application  to  Messrs.  Gourlade  and  Moylan  [Ameri- 
can Navy  Agents  at  1' Orient]  for  what  repairs  and  supplies 
you  must  have  ;  but  let  me  fervently  repeat,  my  dear  Com- 
modore, for  God's  sake  be  sparing,  unless  you  mean  to 
make  me  a  bankrupt  or  have  your  drafts  dishonored  for 
the  most  convincing  of  all  reasons,  that  of  want  of  money 
in  my  hands  to  pay  them. 

To  which  Jones  replied  by  return  mail : 

I  feel  most  keenly,  my  great,  good,  and  most  exaltedly 
honored  superior  and  friend,  your  reasons  for  urging  fru- 
gality. But,  as  I  hardly  need  remind  you,  I  have  not 
hitherto  been  among  the  most  extravagant  servants  of  our 
country,  and  so  now,  you  may  depend  on  it,  I  will  not 
violate  the  precedents  of  my  former  conduct ;  and  more 
than  this,  knowing  your  distress  for  funds,  my  personal 
homage  for  you  will  make  my  calculations  of  expense 
particularly  nice  in  the  present  situation. 

About  this  time  beg-an  Jones's  final  quarrel  with 
Arthur  Lee.  The  latter  had  ceased  to  be  a  member 
of  our  Commission  in  France ;  all  his  authority  as  a 
representative  of  our  interests  in  Europe  had  been 
withdrawn  ;  he  had  been  ordered  by  Congress  to  re- 
turn to  the  United  States,  and  was  only  awaiting  what 
he  might  consider  a  passage  suitable  to  a  personage 
of  his  rank  and  dignity.  Lee  thought  the  Alliance 
would  be  a  proper  conveyance,  but  he  did  not  wish 
to  be  a  passenger  in  a  frigate  commanded  by  Paul 
Jones.  So  Mr.  Lee  determined,  if  he  could,  to  take 
the  Alliance  away  from  Jones,  and  to  accomplish 
that  object  he  did  not  hesitate  to  conspire  with  the 
already  discredited  and  disgraced  Landais. 

Dr.  Franklin,  then  the  sole  representative  of  the 

300 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

United  States  in  France  and  our  senior  representa- 
tive in  ail  Europe,  had  detached  Landais  from  com- 
mand, had  ordered  him  to  report  to  the  Marine  Com- 
mittee for  trial  on  the  charges  of  infamous  conduct 
preferred  against  him  by  Commodore  Jones  ;  and  he 
had,  when  apprised  of  the  conspiracy  between  Arthur 
Lee  and  Landais  to  seize  the  ship,  followed  all  this 
up  by  a  peremptory  order  to  Landais  to  refrain  from 
any  attempt  at  "usurping  command  of  the  Alliance." 
Lee  now  took  it  upon  himself  to  counsel  Landais 
to  disregard  the  order  of  Dr.  Franklin.     Jones  was 
at  the  moment  in  Versailles,  whither  he  had  gone 
to  effect  a  settlement,  in  part  at  least,  of  the  prize- 
moneys  due  from  the  formal  sale  of  the  Serapis  and 
other  captured  ships.      Jones  had  already,  before 
leaving  I'Orient  on  this  mission,  arranged  to  give 
Lee  the  best  accommodations  the  Alliance  afforded. 
But  after  that  had  been  arranged,  Lee  had  demanded 
space  for  two  fine  coaches,  made  in  France,  which  he 
desired  to  carry  to  Virginia,  and  also  freight-room 
for  a  small  cargo  of  wines,  liquors,  books,  pictures, 
furniture,  and  bric-a-brac  he  had  acquired  during  his 
four  years'  residence  in  France  as  a  representative 
of  the  struggling  Colonies. 

On  the  other  hand.  Dr.  Franklin  had  ordered 
Jones  to  take  on  board  and  transport  to  this  coun- 
try a  great  quantity  of  arms,  munitions,  clotLung 
for  the  Continental  Army,  and  other  bulky  public 
stores.  The  Alliance  could  not  stow  all  these  and 
leave  space  for  the  luxurious  belongings  of  Arthur 
Lee.  Therefore,  Jones  demurred  to  the  coaches,  the 
domestic  supplies,  and  the  furniture  of  Mr.  Lee, 
though,  at  the  same  time,  he  offered  to  arrange  for 

301 


PAUL   JONES 

their  transportation  in  a  French  merchant  ship,  the 
Luzerne,  which  the  Alliance  was  to  convoy  to  the 
United  States.  But  this  did  not  suit  Lee.  He  was 
not  only  determined  to  go  home  in  the  Alliance 
with  all  his  private  effects  on  board,  regardless  of 
the  public  exigencies,  but  he  was  also  resolved  not 
to  sail  in  her  with  Paul  Jones  as  captain  ;  and  be- 
yond all  that,  he  was  at  last  resolved  to  testify  his 
contempt  and  hatred  of  both  Jones  and  Dr.  Frank- 
lin by  using  the  vestige  of  power  that  still  remained 
in  his  hands  to  reinstall  in  command  of  the  ship 
the  congenial  wretch  w^hom  Jones  had  personally 
disgraced  as  a  coward,  and  whom  Dr.  Franklin 
had  officially  discredited  as  a  delinquent  naval 
officer. 

Jones  was  apprised  of  these  manoeuvres  a  few  days 
before  they  culminated.  His  friend  Genet,  Chief 
Clerk  of  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  gave  him 
the  facts,  and  with  them  a  copy  of  a  peremptory  or- 
der to  the  Chevalier  de  Thevenard,  commanding  the 
defences  of  I'Orient,  to  stop  the  Alliance  if  Lee  and 
Landais  should  attempt  to  take  her  out,  the  order 
directing  Thevenard  to  sink  the  ship  with  the  can- 
non of  the  barrier  forts,  if  no  less  drastic  measures 
would  suffice.  Genet  then  informed  Jones  that  the 
order  had  been  issued  almost  in  the  terms  of  Dr. 
Franklin's  request  for  it  dated  the  13tli  of  June,  as 
follows  :  "  That  the  Alliance,  if  seized  by  Landais, 
as  reported,  should  be  stopped  from  going  to  sea," 
etc.,  and  requesting  that  measures  to  that  end  bo 
taken  "  as  a  friendly  act  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States."  To  this  Genet  added  :  "  We  know 
but  one  way  to  deal  with  mutineers." 

303 


AIMEE   DE   TELISON 

In  Volume  II.,  "Historical  Anecdotes  of  tlio 
Court  of  Louis  XYI.,"  we  find  the  following  : 

When  Genet  handed  this  order  to  Jones  the  lat- 
ter said  : 

"This  is  terrible.  I  hope  the  dernier  ressort  may  be 
averted.  To  sink  the  ship  would  punish  nearly  three  hun- 
dred good  and  brave  seamen,  who  are  innocent  or  mis- 
guided, in  order  to  reach  two  base  conspirators.  I  will  go 
post-express  to  I'Orient  and  try  my  best  to  avert  such  a 

horror." 

"  But  how  can  it  be  averted,"  inquired  Genet,  **  if  they 
have  possession  of  the  ship  and  insist  on  going  out? 
Thevenard  already  has  orders  to  stop  them  until  further 
directed.  You  are,  of  course,  aware  that  the  order  of 
which  you  have  a  copy  was  sent  to  I'Orient  four  days  ago 
on  the  representation  of  Dr.  Franklin." 

"Yes,"  said  Commodore  Jones,  *'I  understand  that. 
And  I  have  an  order  from  the  Doctor  authorizing  me  to 
revoke  the  permission  previously  given  to  Arthur  Lee  for 
passage  home  in  the  Alliance,  the  order  reciting  that  it  is 
generally  understood  that  the  mutiny  in  that  ship  has 
been  promoted  or  advised  by  Arthur  Lee.  But  I  do  not 
think  the  Doctor  has  any  idea  of  the  ship  being  fired  upon 
by  your  forts.  Does  he  know  the  full  tenor  of  your  orders 
to  Thevenard?" 

"We  have  notified  him,"  replied  Genet,  "of  our  com- 
pliance with  his  request.  Of  course  we  have  informed  him 
only  that  we  will,  agreeably  to  his  official  request,  stop 
the  ship  if  attempt  be  made  to  sail  with  her  under  com- 
mand of  anyone  but  yourself.  Naturally,  we  have  not  ac- 
quainted him  with  the  details  of  our  military  instructions 
to  the  Chevalier  de  Thevenard. ' ' 

"Then,"  said  Commodore  Jones,  "  I  must  go  at  once  to 
I'Orient  and  do  what  I  can  to  obviate  such  a  horror  as  the 
sinking  of  the  Alliance  would  be.     .     .     .'* 

303 


PAUL   JONES 

The  foreg-oing  interview  occurred  June  18tli.  Jones 
at  once  left  by  express-carriage  for  I'Orient,  making* 
the  journey  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  in 
fifty-four  hours — then  almost  unjirecedented  time 
between  Versailles  and  I'Orient.  Under  date  of 
rOrient,  June  21st,  he  wrote  to  Franklin  as  follows : 

Sir  :  I  was  detained  at  Versailles  forty  hours  by  M.  de 
Genet  from  the  time  of  m.y  arrival  there  and  was  then  in- 
formed by  M.  de  Genet  that  an  express  had  been  sent  from, 
court  Avith  the  necessary  orders  to  the  King's  officers  at 
I'Orient  respecting  Captain  Landais  and  the  Alliance.  I 
arrived  here  yesterday  morning,  fifty-four  hours  after  leav- 
ing Versailles.  M.  de  Thevenard  had  made  every  necessary 
preparation  to  stop  the  Alliance,  as  appears  by  the  enclosed 
document  on  the  subject.  [This  document  was  a  copy  of 
Thevenard 's  orders.]  He  had  the  evening  before  sent  or- 
ders to  the  forts  to  fire  on  the  Alliance  and,  if  necessary, 
sink  her  to  the  bottom  if  they  attempted  to  pass  or  even 
approach  the  barrier  across  the  entrance  of  the  port.  Had 
I  remained  silent  an  hour  longer  the  dreadful  work  would 
have  been  done. 

Your  humanity  will,  I  know,  justify  the  part  I  acted  in 
preventing  a  scene  that  would  have  rendered  me  miserable 
for  the  rest  of  my  life.  At  my  request  and  on  my  agreeing 
to  take  the  whole  responsibility,  the  Chevalier  de  Theve- 
nard suspended  the  orders  to  fire,  and  the  Alliance  was  per- 
mitted to  be  warped  and  towed  through  the  rocks,  and  is 
now  at  anchor  in  the  outer  roads,  between  Port  Louis  and 
Isle  au  Groaix. 

Mr.  Lee  has  now  pulled  off  the  mask  and  I  am  convinced 
is  not  a  little  disappointed  that  his  operations  have  pro- 
duced no  bloodshed  between  the  subjects  of  France  and 
America.  Poor  man  I  .  .  .  Mr.  Lee  and  his  party,  in 
representations  to  M.  de  Thevenard,  pretend  to  justify  their 
measures  because  they  say  you  did  not  formally  put  Landais 

304 


AIMEE   DE   TELISON 

under  arrest.  And  Mr.  Lee  says  you  cannot  displace  Lan- 
dais,  however  great  his  crimes,  because  Congress  gave  him 
the  command  of  the  AlUance,  and  no  other  authority  can 
deprive  him  of  it. 

M.  de  Thevenard,  on  his  part,  wishes  me  to  request  you 
to  at  once  assure  the  Ministry  that  his  failure  to  fire  on  the 
Alliance  in  accordance  with  his  orders  was  due  to  what  he 
understood  to  be  a  request  from  you  conveyed  through  me  ; 
this,  of  course,  is  to  clear  him  of  responsibility  for  letting 
the  ship  go  out.  Please  notify  the  Ministry  to  the  above 
effect,  as  I  know  you  would  have  done  exactly  as  I  did  had 
you  been  on  the  spot. 

Dr.  Franklin  acted  in  accordance  with  the  Com- 
modore's request,  and  in  a  few  days  M.  de  Thevenard 
received  from  the  Ministry  a  note  approving  his  con- 
duct.    The  Alliance  sailed  for  the  United  States  the 
22d  of  June  and  arrived  at  Boston  the  2d  of  August. 
Her  voyage  involved  a  strange  commentary  on  the 
"way  of  the  transgressor."    Hardly  had  the   ship 
cleared  Cape  Finisterre,  when  Landais  announced 
his  intention  to  cruise  as  far  south  as  the  Windward 
Islands  on  the  way  home.     Arthur  Lee  violently  re- 
monstrated against  this  crazy  project.     The  ship  was 
laden  vdth  military  stores  that  were  urgently  needed. 
Her  cvGYi  was  short-handed  and  discontented  to  the 
verge  of  mutiny.     But  Landais  was  obdurate,   and 
ordered  the  course  shaped  for  Fayal.   Not  an  officer 
in  the  ship  would  obey  him,  and  Arthur  Lee,  quite 
rightfully,  sustained  them.     Among  Lee's  numerous 
accomplishments  had  been  the  study  of  medicine, 
and  he  had  taken  the  degree  of  M.D.  from  the  Ed- 
inburgh College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.     He 
now  brought  this  branch  of  his  learning  into  use, 
Vol.  1.-20  305 


PAUL   JONES 

field  a  volunteer  survey  upon  Landais,  and  declared 
him  insane,  in  his  capacity  as  a  doctor  of  medicine  ; 
and  then  in  his  capacity  as  an  ex-Commissioner  of 
the  United  States,  he  ordered  Lieutenant  James 
Arthur  Degge  to  take  command  of  the  ship.  As 
soon  as  they  arrived  at  Boston  a  court  of  inquiry 
was  held,  which,  mainly  on  Lee's  testimony,  found 
Landais  unfit  to  command,  and  he  was  dismissed 
from  the  service  —  or,  at  least,  permanently  sus- 
pended. 

During  the  period  under  consideration — 1778-79- 
80 — was  developed  the  only  affair  in  the  whole  ca- 
reer of  Paul  Jones  that  had  the  flavor  of  sustained 
romance,  in  the  sense  of  a  permanent  relation  with 
one  of  the  fair  sex.  However  numerous  may  have 
been  his  temporary  amours,  this  one,  at  least,  lasted 
his  lifetime,  with  only  such  intermix tions  as  were 
unavoidably  caused  by  the  incidents  of  his  career 
as  a  naval  commander. 

The  lady  was  Aimee  Adele  de  Telison.  She  was 
bona  in  1758  and  was  twenty  years  old  when  Jones 
met  her.  She  was  a  natural  daughter  of  Louis  XY. 
by  one  of  the  numerous  temporary  mistresses  of 
that  king,  during  the  period  of  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour's ascendancy.  Her  mother  was  Mademoiselle 
de  Tiercelin,  knoviTi  to  history  as  "  de  Bonneval," 
a  name  the  King  made  her  assume  when  he  took  her 
under  his  protection. 

According  to  Soulavie  ("  Anecdotes  of  the  Peign 
of  Louis  XV.")  the  King,  through  his  confidential 
procureur,  le  Bel,  learned  of  Mademoiselle  de  Tier- 
celin when  she  was  only  twelve  years  old,  and  then 
placed  her  in  charge  of  a  governess  named  Madame 

306 


AIMEE   DE    TELISON 

Bertrand,  who  gave  her  a  fair  education  until  she 
reached  the  ag'e  of  fourteen  years,  when  the  King, 
with  the  consent  of  Madame  Pompadour,  gave  her 
apartments  in  the  Palace  of  Versailles  for  some 
time.  The  father  of  this  girl,  M.  de  Tiercelin,  was 
an  impoverished  nobleman  of  Provence,  and  La- 
cretelle  relates  that  when  he  presumed  too  much 
upon  being  the  grandfather  of  the  King's  natural 
child  by  his  daughter,  he  was  effectually  silenced 
by  the  harsh  sound  of  the  great  key  of  the  Bastille, 
within  whose  walls  he  remained  several  months. 

Louis  XV.  had  taken  warning  by  the  example  of 
his  grandfather,  Louis  XIV.  That  monarch  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  recognizing  and  legitimatizing  the 
children  borne  to  him  by  his  various  mistresses, 
such  as  la  Valliere  and  de  Montespan  ;  the  result 
having  been  large  accessions  to  the  noblesse  of 
France,  involving  not  only  infinite  scandal  but  vast 
increase  in  the  public  burdens  for  their  support. 

While  Louis  XV.  inherited  all  the  Bourbon  lust 
of  his  grandfather,  Louis  XIV. ,  he  seems  also  to  have 
fallen  heir  to  the  Alpine  frugality  of  his  mother, 
Adelaide  of  Savoy.  Therefore  Louis  XV.  did  not 
burden  the  Almanach  de  Gotha  with  the  results  of 
his  frequent  and  fleeting  amours.  On  the  contrary, 
as  Lacretelle  says  in  his  "  History  of  France," 
verified  by  the  memoirs  of  Madame  de  Hausset  and 
many  other  records  of  that  profligate  Court,  too  nu- 
merous to  quote  in  detail ;  Louis  XV.  soon  tired  of 
his  young  mistresses  one  after  another,  and  "  they 
were  sent  away,  loaded  with  gifts  and  generally  pro- 
vided vdth  pensions,  but  almost  certain  of  never 
again   beholding    the   King   who    had    dishonored 

307 


PAUL   JONES 

tliem,  even  wlien  they  bore  in  their  arms  or  at  their 
bosoms  the  living  pledges  of  their  submission  to 
his  lust." 

In  Mile,  de  Bonneval,  however,  Louis  XY.  seems 
to  have  taken  more  than  his  usual  interest.  She  be- 
came a  mother  at  the  age  of  fii'teen.  Louis  XV.  then 
settled  upon  her  an  annuity  of  twelve  thousand  livres 
and  also  made  j^rovision  for  the  education  of  the 
child.  Soon  afterward  the  father  of  the  King's  dis- 
carded young  mistress,  M.  de  Tiercelin,  was  accused 
of  being  an  emissary  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and 
the  Duke  de  Choiseul  ordered  both  the  father  and 
the  daughter  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Bastille.  But 
Madame  de  Pompadour  promi^tly  interfered  in  favor 
of  the  daughter,  who  was  released,  and  in  1761  Ma- 
dame de  Pompadour  arranged  a  marriage  between 
Mile,  de  Bonneval  and  an  official  in  the  Chancellerie 
of  Marine,  named  de  Telison,  who,  by  the  way,  was 
a  widower  with  two  children.  Ux^on  this  event  the 
natural  daughter  of  the  King  by  Mile,  de  Bonne- 
val took  the  name  of  her  stepfather  and  became 
"  Aimee  Adele  de  Telison." 

Madame  de  Pompadour  continued  her  interest  in 
the  fortunes  of  both  mother  and  daughter  until  she 
died,  in  1764.  After  that  the  an-angements  that 
Louis  XY.  had  made  for  Aimee's  education  re- 
mained in  force  until  the  monarch  died,  in  1774, 
when  Aimee  was  sixteen  years  old.  Then  her  re- 
sources were  suddenly  cut  off,  notwithstanding  that 
her  mother's  annuity,  which,  it  appeai-s,  had  been 
paid  out  of  the  private  purse  of  Louis  XY.,  was  con- 
tinued by  Louis  XYL  Aimee  then  left  the  Telison 
household  and  was  taken  under  the  protection  of  the 

30b 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

Marchioness  de  Marsan,  who  enabled  her  to  com- 
plete her  education  and  in  other  respects  assumed 
toward  her  the  relation  of  a  foster-mother.  In  1778 
Aimee  had  finished  her  education,  and  about  that 
time  she  met  Paul  Jones  when  he  came  to  Paris 
after  his  cruise  in  the  Kang-er. 

Madame  do  Marsan  was  then  past  the  prime  of 
life,  but  took  an  active  interest  in  social  affairs  and 
possessed  great  influence  at  Court.  She  was  one  of 
the  intimate  friends  of  Madame  Campan,  nee  Genet, 
sister  of  the  celebrated  French  envoy  of  that  name, 
and  Jones  was  indebted  to  M.  de  Genet  for  his  intro- 
duction into  this  exclusive  circle,  Madame  Cam- 
pan  being  then  one  of  the  principal  ladies  of  the 
Queen's  household.  This  circle  included  also  tlio 
famous  Countess  de  la  Yendahl,  who  for  a  time  ap- 
peared to  share  with  young"  Aimee  the  tender  regard, 
if  not  the  affections  of  the  American  hero.  Aimeo 
was  also  o,  protegee  of  the  Duchess  de  Chartres,  and 
in  fact  it  was  at  her  palace  that  Jones  was  first 
introduced  to  the  young-  lady. 

The  memoirs  and  historical  anecdotes  of  that  pe- 
riod abound  with  references  to  Paul  Jones  as  a  so- 
ciety man  at  Paris  and  Versailles,  and  they  also  make 
frequent  mention  of  his  attentions  to  Aimee  de  Tel- 
ison,  who  was  generally  recognized  as  the  object  of 
his  affections.  Aside  from  the  fragmentary  corre- 
spondence preserved  by  the  Commodore's  niece, 
Miss  Janette  Taylor,  and  the  "  Anecdotes  of  the 
Court  in  its  Last  Days,"  by  Eugene  Callery  (pub- 
lished, however,  anonymously),  the  most  pointed 
references  to  the  relations  between  Paul  Jones  and 
Aimee  de  Telison  are  found  in  the  Memoirs  of  Ma- 

309 


PAUL   JONES 

(lame  Elliot  ;  the  "  Letters  of  an  Englishwoman  in 
France  During  the  American  War,"  by  Mademoiselle 
Edes-Herbert ;  the  original  edition  of  the  de  Genlis 
Memoirs,  and  several  other  contemporary  papers  of 
less  note. 

The  most  entertaining  of  these  personal  recol- 
lections is  that  of  Miss  Edes-Herbert.  She  was  a 
daughter — or  stepdaughter — of  the  British  agent 
for  exchange  of  prisoners  at  that  time,  but  had  lived 
most  of  her  life  in  Paris,  her  own  father  having 
been  British  agent  in  1756-63.  She  met  Paul  Jones 
for  the  first  time  at  the  salon  of  the  Marchioness  de 
Marsan  in  1780,  shortly  after  his  return  to  France 
in  the  Alliance,  and  about  the  time  the  Xing  con- 
ferred on  him  the  order  of  knighthood.  x4.t  that 
time  Aimee  de  Telison  was  under  the  protection  of 
the  Marchioness,  and  the  party  was  given  in  her 
honor,  or  rather  she  was  the  hostess  of  the  occa- 
sion. 

Miss  Edes-Herbert  records  her  impressions  of 
Paul  Jones  as  follows : 

Having  been  taught  to  regard  Captain  Jones  as  a  rough, 
desperate  renegade,  if  not  pirate,  I  was  amazed  to  meet  a 
most  courteous,  graceful  gentleman  of  slight  build  and 
rather  delicate,  not  to  say  effeminate,  cast  of  features, 
faultlessly  dressed,  exquisitely  polite,  altogether  hand- 
some, and  speaking  French  fluently,  though  with  indiffer- 
ent accent  and  many  lapses  of  grammar.  However,  his 
French  was  better  than  that  of  most  English  persons  of 
quality  who  pretend  to  speak  the  language  in  the  drawing- 
rooms  of  London.  For  some  reason  he  was  quite  attentive 
to  me,  and  we  danced  twice.  Naturally  we  avoided  po- 
litical subjects,  though  once  he  asked  me  if  I  had  heard  or 

310 


AIMEE   DE    TELISON 

read  anything  about  the  affair  of  taking  the  Earl  of  Sel- 
kirk's plate  at  St.  Mary's  Isle  in  the  cruise  of  the  Ranger. 
I  said  I  had,  and  he  then  told  me  that  his  relation  to  the 
affair  was  not  correctly  understood,  and  he  would  do  him- 
self the  honor  to  send  to  me  copies  of  all  the  papers  in  the 
case,  in  order  that  I  might  be  able  to  form  a  right  judg- 
ment. And,  by  way  of  compliment,  I  suppose,  he  added 
that,  while  under  the  circumstances  that  existed  he  was 
compelled  to  be  indifferent  to  the  estimation  in  which 
Englishmen  held  him,  he  was  as  sensitive  as  ever  to  the 
sentiments  of  Englishwomen  ;  also  that,  while  he  might 
be  at  war  with  my  countrymen  as  a  nation,  he  could  never 
be  anything  but  at  peace  with  their  daughters.  Altogeth- 
er I  was  quite  charmed  with  him.  He  was  quite  impartial 
in  his  attentions  to  the  ladies.  However,  his  preference  for 
her  ladyship,  our  gracious  hostess,  could  not  be  quite  hid  ; 
it  was  not  even  partly  veiled.  Neither,  I  must  say,  was 
her  ladyship's  reciprocity  of  it.  A  few  days  afterward  he 
called  on  my  father  to  initiate  a  scheme  for  exchanging  the 
crew  of  the  Serapis  for  American  prisoners  in  England, 
I  did  not  see  him  on  this  occasion,  but  my  father  informed 
me  that  he  was  deeply  impressed  by  him  and  could  not 
help  seeing  in  him  genius  of  the  first  order.  My  father 
spoke  of  his  manner  as  extremely  cold,  reserved,  and  wholly 
official,  which  was  the  exact  reverse  of  his  deportment 
toward  me  at  the  reception.  My  father  said  that  when  he 
told  Captain  Jones,  as  he  had  to,  that  our  (the  British) 
Government  had  not  given  him  authority  to  recognize  the 
right  of  cartel  to  the  American  insurgents,  the  Captain  re- 
plied :  "Very  well,  sir;  but,  as  Voltaire  says,  the  future 
is  much  longer  than  the  present. ' '  * 

Elsewhere  Miss  Edes-Herbert  speaks  of  meeting- 
Paul  Jones  ag-ain  at  a  ftte  champHre  given  by  the 

*  Miss  Edes-Herbert' s  stepfather  had  no  authority  to    arrange  ex- 
changes for  any  but  French  and  English  prisoners. 

311 


PAUL   JOXES 

Countess  d'Houdetot  at  the  Chdteau  Montmorency. 
This  event  occurred  shortly  after  the  King  had 
knighted  Jones — the  letters  patent  bearing  date  of 
June  28,  1780,  and  the  fete  of  the  Countess  d'Hou- 
detot occurring  on  the  14th  of  July  following.  Of 
this  occasion  Miss  Edes-Herbert  says  : 

Though  there  was  all  afternoon  and  evening  a  throng  of 
the  noblesse  and  persons  of  quality  in  all  stations  of  emi- 
nence, no  one  gained  so  much  notice  or  was  so  sought  after 
for  introductions  as  the  American  Commodore,  Paul  Jones, 
now  titled  "Monsieur  le  Chevalier." 

As  on  the  occasion  of  our  previous  meeting  at  the  Mar- 
quise de  Marsan's,  he  was  now  especially  polite  to  me  ;  so 
much  so,  that  many  of  the  ladies  rallied  me  on  what  they 
were  pleased  to  term  my  "conquest  of  the  conqueror.'' 
Finally  I  ventured  to  say  to  him  :  "Monsieur  le  Chevalier, 
you  will  not  think  it  strange  if  I  am  not  so  cheerful  as 
these  French  ladies  are  in  paying  devotion  to  you,  because 
all  these  honors  are  in  compliment  to  your  victory  over  my 
own  people. ' ' 

To  this  he  instantly  replied,  not  in  French,  which  we  had 
been  talking,  but  in  English  :  "My  dear  Miss  Edes-Her- 
bert, I  most  fully  comprehend  and  appreciate  your  senti- 
ments. And  permit  me  to  say  also  that  had  my  adversary 
on  the  occasion  you  speak  of  been  any  but  a  countryman  of 
yours,  I  would  not  be  thought  entitled  to  so  much  credit  as 
they  seem  to  give  me  for  the  victory.  Therefore,  my  dear 
lady,  instead  of  being  sad  you  should  be  buoyant  in  the 
thought  that  it  is  only  upon  those  who  have  defeated 
Englishmen  that  such  honors  are  bestowed.  And  beyond 
doubt  the  extreme  infrequency  of  such  events  has  much  to 
do  with  the  extravagance  of  praise  the  French  now  bestow 
upon  me." 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on  we  were  seated  to- 
gether on  a  rustic  bench  apart  from  tlie  throng,  and  Mile. 

010 


AIMEE   DE    TELISON 

de  Telison  came  to  present  the  Commodore  to  some  other 
ladies.  As  soon  as  the  introductions  were  made  I  repeated 
to  the  whole  party  what  he  had  just  said  to  me. 

"What  beautiful  sentiments  !  "  exclaimed  Mile.  Aim6e. 
**No  one  else  in  the  world  could  be  chivalric  enough  to 
entertain  them  !  But  it  is  like  him  ;  and  he  has  no  equal 
among  men !  " 

This  was  said  with  a  passionate  vehemence  and  entire 
disregard  of  environment  that  left  no  doubt  in  any  mind  as 
to  what  had  become  of  Aim^e's  heart.  As  for  the  Cheva- 
lier, he  listened  with  a  half-affectionate,  half-amused 
expression,  and  said  only  in  reply  that  it  was  not  in  his 
power  to  suitably  express  the  sentiments  that  such  honors 
stirred  within  him.  "And,"  he  added,  "you  know, 
ladies,  that  I  am  but  a  simple  sailor,  unaccustomed  to 
such  graces  as  yours." 

Miss  Edes-Herbert's  letters  were  first  published  in 
a  weekly  journal  of  Edinburgh  and  were  afterward 
assembled  in  a  small  volume.  Among  her  gossipy 
letters  is  the  following,  written  in  1780 : 

The  Countess  de  la  Vendahl,  a  young  and  dashing 
woman,  seems  to  have  no  objection  to  indulge  a  little 
harmless  gallantry  on  the  part  of  the  famous  American 
Commodore.  Among  the  accomplishments  of  the  Count- 
ess is  much  cleverness  as  an  artist,  and  she  is  one  of 
Van  der  Huydt's  pupils.  She  has  lately  painted  an  ex- 
quisite miniature  of  him  (the  Commodore)  under  Van  der 
Huydt's  direction,  and  she  has  also  given  him  her  own 
miniature.     .     . 

Miss  Edes-Herbert  was  at  this  time  employed  by 
the  Countess  and  other  French  noblewomen  as  a 
teacher  of  English,  and  was  an  inmate  of  the  Ven- 

318 


PAUL   JONES 

dahl  houseliold.     In  a  letter  of  date  subsequent  to 
the  foregoing-  she  says : 

Since  my  last,  the  famous  Paul  Jones  has  dined  here  and 
also  been  present  at  afternoon  teas.  If  I  am  in  love  with 
him,  for  love  I  may  die,  I  am  sure,  because  I  have  as  man}' 
rivals  as  there  are  ladies ;  but  the  most  formidable  one  is 
Lady  de  la  Vendahl  herself,  v^^ho  seems  to  possess  all  his 
heart.  This  lady  is  not  only  of  high  rank  and  virtue,  but 
is  very  sensible,  good-natured,  and  affable.  Besides  this  she 
is  possessed  of  youth,  beauty,  wit,  and  every  other  female 
accomplishment.  He  is  going  soon  to  America.  The  Count- 
ess and  he  correspond,  and  his  letters  are  replete  with  ele- 
gance, sentiment,  and  delicacy.  She  drew  his  picture  in 
miniature  and  wrote  some  lines  with  it,  which  are  much 
admired,  in  presenting  it  to  him  ;  and  he,  since  he  received 
it,  says  he  is  like  a  second  Narcissus — in  love  with  his  own 
resemblance.  To  be  sure  he  is  the  most  agreeable  sea- wolf 
one  could  wish  to  meet  with — at  least  on  the  land  ;  but  he 
is  doubtless  not  so  charming  to  meet  at  sea.  He  is  an 
extraordinary  genius  ;  a  poet  as  well  as  a  conqueror. 

A  few  days  ago  he  wrote  some  verses  for  Mademoiselle  de 
Gerard,  the  young  daughter  of  his  great  friend  the  Envoy. 
These  verses*  were  written  extempore  in  the  presence  of 
quite  a  group  of  ladies,  with  but  little  hesitation  and  hard- 
ly any  changes  from  the  first  text.  I  send  you  a  copy  of 
them.  Do  with  them  what  you  please.  But  if  you  publish 
them,  do  not  give  any  names  but  his  own. 

The  King  has  given  him  a  magnificent  gold-mounted 
sword,  which,  lest  perhaps  it  should  fall  into  the  hands  of 

*  The  verses  addressed  to  Mile,  de  Gerard  have  been  published  in 
most  of  the  biographies  of  Paul  Jones,  together  with  other  similar  eflu- 
sions.  All  the  metrical  efforts  of  the  Commodore  indicate  that,  while  he 
may  have  been  a  poet  among  sailors,  he  would  doubtless  figure  as  a  sailor 
among  poets,  and  his  prosody  was  not  on  a  par  with  his  seamanship. 
His  fame,  we  think,  rests  much  more  Becurely  on  his  victories  than  on 
his  verses.     We  therefore  omit  them. 

Ill  4 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

the  enemy,  he  has  begged  leave  to  commit  to  the  care  of 
her  ladyship— a  piece  of  gallantry  highly  applauded  here. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  warmth  of  the  entente 
between  Commodore  Jones  and  the  Countess  de  la 
Yendahl  as  described  by  Miss  Edes-Herbert,  it  was 
evanescent  and  did  not  interrupt  his  relations  with 
Aimee  de  Telison,  who,  fond  of  him  as  she  was,  seems 
to  have  been  not  only  destitute  of  jealousy,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  took  a  pride  of  her  own  in  witnessing 
the  admiration  that  others  of  her  sex  bestowed  upon 
her  idol.  Among  the  few  of  her  letters  to  him  that 
have  been  preserved  is  the  following,  under  date  of 
August  28,  1780,  addressed  to  the  Commodore  at 
rOrient : 

Since  your  departure,  my  dear  Commodore,  I 
have  done  little  else  than  answer  inquiries  concerning  you 
from  your  legion  of  feminine  Avorshippers.  **Is  he  going 
to  sea  again?"  "Has  the  King  given  him  anew  com- 
mand?" *'When  will  he  return  hither?"  are  questions 
constantly  addressed  to  me  by  all  the  fair  world.  In  vain 
I  expostulate  that  I  am  not  your  jailer  !  That  you  honor 
me,  only  as  you  do  them,  with  your  society  betimes,  and 
regale  me  only  as  you  do  them,  with  your  exhaustless  wit 
and  graces. 

They  will  not  have  it  so,  but  declare  one  and  all  that  I 
am  the  chosen  one.  Only  yesterday  the  Countess  de  la  Ven- 
dahl  said  to  me,  "Alas,  my  poor  husband  ;  he  is  so  good 
and  withal  so  dull  !  What  would  I  not  give  to  be,  as  you 
are,  enshrined  in  the  affections  of  a  heart  like  that  of  Paul 
Jones  ;  to  know  that  devotion  and  affection  for  me  were 
cherished  in  the  same  bosom  that  holds  the  courage  that 
made  him  the  conqueror  in  a  battle  the  like  of  which  is 
unheard  of  ?  Do  not  fail,  my  dearest  Aim6e,  to  plume  your- 
self upon  your  conquest.     You  are,  as  all  know,  the  daugh- 

815 


PAUL   JONES 

ter  of  a  King.  But,  far  more  than  that,  you  are,  as  all 
equally  know,  the  beloved  of  a  hero  !  " 

Now,  my  dear  Commodore,  what  can  I  say  in  reward  of 
such  compliments  ?  Surely  I  can  say  nothing  that  would 
be  adequate.  But  I  never  permit  myself  to  doubt  that 
what  all  say  must  be  true.  I  could  not  doubt  it  without 
despair.  Fortuneless  as  I  am,  and  dependent  upon  the 
charity  of  a  benefactress  who,  I  believe,  has  taken  me  in 
place  of  a  child  of  her  own,  denied  to  her  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  I  am  richly  content  so  to  be,  if  only  I 
may  trastfully  believe  that  I  have  your  affection. 

Her  Royal  Highness  [meaning  the  Duchess  de  Chartresj 
has  told  me  since  you  went  away  that  there  is  no  doubt 
of  your  receiving  command  of  another  squadron  by  direct 
order  of    His  Majesty  and  without  interference  of  M.  de 

C [Chaumont]   or  any  other   interested   person.     She 

tells  me  H.  M [the  King]  himself  has  said  you  shall 

have  the  Serapis  as  soon  as  she  is  fitted  out ;  your  own 
prize,  gained  by  such  desperate  valor — by  valor  like  unto 
the  legend  of  La  Tour  d'Auvergne. 

Necessarily  I  hope  so.  It  will  take  you  once  more  far 
away  from  me,  amid  perils  no  one  can  foresee  the  end 
of  ;  but  all  in  pursuit  of  glory  and  in  defence  of  our 
common  cause.  For  that,  and  that  alone,  I  am  willing 
to  deny  myself  all  ;  even  the  rapture  of  being  with  you 
soon  again. 

When  you  are  in  readiness  with  your  new  Argosy  to 
sail  in  quest  of  another  Golden  Fleece,  may  not  your 
poor  little  AimCe  Adele  come  to  I'Orient  to  say  **Bon 
voyage?"  True,  I  cannot  indulge  the  fancy  that  such 
parting  would  in  any  Avlse  reinforce  your  chivalry,  which 
needs  not  reinforcement ;  but  it  would  enable  a  poor  lit- 
tle waif  who  loves  you  to  see  for  once  her  hero  with  his 
armor  on  in  all  panoply  of  battle  ! 

Paul  Jones  refers  to  Aimee  de   Telison  several 
times  in  liis  correspondence,  particular!}^  in   that 

olC 


AIMEE   DE   TELISON 


with  Jefferson,  when  the  latter  was  American  Min- 
ister to  France.     These  references  indicate  beyond 
doubt  that  Jones  charged  himself  with  her  mainte- 
nance ;    and  though  when  in  Paris  he  never  lived 
under  the  same  roof  with  her,  ho  always-at  leas 
after  his  return  to  Paris  in  December,  1783-provided 
her  with  an  establishment  of  her  own,  quite  suitable 
to  her  rank     Whatever  her  own  resources  may  have 
been,  it  is  clear  from  at  least  two  of  the  missions  in 
her  behalf,  which  he  intrusted  to  Jefferson,  that  he 
held  it  his  duty  to  make  up  any  deficit. 

In  September,  1787,  Jones  was  in  New  York,  which 
was  then  the  national  capital,  and  while  there  he 
made  a  remittance  to  her,  through  Mr.  Jefferson,  m 
the  following  letter  : 

(Pji^ate)  New  Yoke,  September  4,  1787. 

HONORED  SIB  :  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  letter 
from  Madame  Telison  which  you  forwarded  by  the  June 
packet.     I  now  take  the  liberty  to  enclose  a  letter  for  that 
Worthy  lady  ;  and  as  I  had  not  the  happiness  to  mtro^-« 
you  to  her,  I  shall  now  tell  you  in  confidence  that  she  is 
th^  daugh  er  of  the  late  King  by  a  lady  of  quahty  upon 
vhom  His  Majesty  bestowed  a  large  fortune  on  herda'igh- 
ter's  account.     Unfortunately,   the  King  d>ed   while  the 
dauglX  (his  favorite)  was  very  young  (only  sixteen  J-- 
of  age)  ■  and  her  mother  has  never  since  shown  here  ther 
•Lti'ceoreven  natural  afleetioa.     She  was  long  the  s.l^n 
victim  of  such  injustice ;  but  I  had  the  pleasure  to  put  her 
in  a  fair  way  to  obtain  redress. 

His  present  Majesty  received  her  last  year  with  great 
kindness  ;  he  gave  her  several  particular  audiences,  and 
said  he  charged  himself  with  her  fortune      .     .     • 

But  the  letter  from  her,  sent  through  you,  left  her  in 
tears.     Her  friend,  her  protectress,  her  introductress  to  the 

317 


PAUL   JONES 

King  (the  Marquise  de  Marsan)  died  suddenly.  She  was  in 
despair.  ...  I  hope,  however,  that  she  went  to  visit 
the  King  in  July,  agreeably  to  the  appointment  made  for 
her  in  March.  I  am  persuaded  that  His  Majesty  would 
now  receive  her  with  additional  kindness,  and  that  her 
bereavement  would,  in  his  mind,  be  a  new  claim  to  his  pro- 
tection ;  especially  as  he  well  knows  and  has  acknowl- 
edged her  superior  merit  and  just  claims. 

As  I  feel  the  greatest  concern  for  the  situation  of  this 
worthy  lady,  you  will  render  me  a  great  favor  by  writing  a 
note  to  the  enclosed  address,  requesting  Madame  de  Telison 
to  call  upon  you,  as  you  have  something  to  communicate  to 
her  from  me.  When  she  calls  upon  you  please  deliver  to 
her  the  within  letter  and  separate  enclosure,  and  also  please 
show  her  this  letter,  that  she  may  see  both  my  confidence 
in  you  and  my  advice  to  her. 

While  in  the  first  instance  I  ask  you  to  do  this  for  my 
sake,  I  am  sure  that  when  you  have  made  her  acquaintance 
you  will  be  glad  of  having  complied  with  my  request  for 
her  sake. 

(Signed,  etc.)  Paul  Jones. 

The  enclosed  letter  to  Mile,  de  Telison,  which 
Jones  requested  Thomas  Jefferson  to  hand  to  her, 
was  as  follows : 

New  York,  September  4,  1787. 
My  Dear  Madame  '.  No  language  can  convey  to  my 
fair  mourner  the  tender  sorrow  I  feel  on  her  account.  The 
loss  of  our  worthy  and  noble  friend  is  indeed  a  fatal  stroke  I 
It  is  an  irreparable  misfortune  which  can  only  be  alleviated 
by  the  one  reflection  that  it  is  the  will  of  God,  whose  prov- 
idence, I  hope,  may  yet  have  blessings  in  store  for  us.  The 
noble  Marquise  was  more  than  a  mother  to  you.  We  have 
lost  her.  Let  us  cherish  her  memory,  and  send  up  grateful 
thanks  to  the  Almighty  that  we  once  had  such  a  friend. 

318 


AIMEE   DE    TELISON 

I  cannot  but  flatter  myself  that  you  have  yourself  gone 
to  the  King  in  July,  as  he  had  appointed  audience  for  you. 
I  am  sure  your  present  loss  and  bereavement  will  newly 
induce  him  to  protect  you  and  render  to  you  justice.  He 
will  hear  you,  I  am  sure,  and  you  may  safely  unbosom  your- 
self to  him,  telling  him  frankly  all  your  relations  and  ask- 
ing his  advice,  which  cannot  but  be  agreeable  to  him  to 
give  you.  Tell  him  you  must  now  look  to  him  as  your 
father  and  protector.  If  it  were  necessary  I  think,  too, 
that  the  Count  d'Artois,  his  brother,  would  on  your  per- 
sonal application  render  you  good  offices  by  speaking  in 
your  favor.  I  should  like  it  better,  however,  if  you  do 
without  him. 

His  Excellency  Mr.  Jefferson  will  show  you  my  official 
letter  of  this  date  to  him.  You  will  see  by  it  how  disgrace- 
fully I  have  been  detained  here  by  the  Board  of  Treasury. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  stir  from  this  place  till  I  obtain 
their  final  settlement  on  the  business  I  have  already  per- 
formed ;  and  as  the  season  is  already  far  advanced,  I  expect 
to  be  ordered  to  embark  directly  for  my  destination  in  the 
North.   [Referring  to  his  mission  to  the  Court  of  Denmark.] 

Hereafter,  until  further  advices,  please  forward  all  your 
letters  to  me  through  Mr.  Jefferson.  Just  at  this  moment 
I  am  almost  without  money,  and,  though  not  resourceless 
by  any  means,  cannot  realize  on  my  securities  quickly  with- 
out sacrifices  I  am  not  willing  to  make.  Thus  I  am  puz- 
zled for  an  adequate  supply.  For  thirty-six  thousand 
livres  worth  of  prime  securities  I  am  offered  fifteen  thou- 
sand, which  fact  may  enable  you  to  perceive  the  depression 
prevailing  here. 

I  have  written  to  Dr.  Bancroft,  in  London,  who  has  in 
his  hands  over  forty  thousand  livres  for  me  in  ready  cash, 
to  assist  me  in  meeting  your  present  needs.  When  this 
reaches  you,  call  on  M.  le  Grand  [Jones's  banker  in  Paris] 
and,  presenting  this  as  credential,  ask  him  to  hand  you 
4,000  livres  (about  8800)  from  my  Holland  account.  He 
will  know  what  that  means.     I  enclose  a  bit  of  paper  in 

319 


PAUL   JONES 

cipher  with  my  signature.  I  need  not  translate  it  to  you, 
but  it  is  a  form  of  order  for  the  amount  mentioned. 

I  do  this  and  mention  these  facts  with  infinite  regret, 
and  for  no  other  reason  than  because  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  transmit  to  you  an  adequate  supply  under  my  pres- 
ent circumstances. 

This  is  my  fifth  letter  to  you  since  I  left  Paris.  Two 
were  written  while  yet  in  Europe,  and  I  sent  them  in  du- 
plicates. But  you  say  nothing  of  having  received  my  let- 
ters. 

Finally,  my  dearest  friend,  summon  all  your  resolution. 
Exert  yourself  and  plead  your  own  cause.  You  cannot  fail 
of  success.  The  justice  of  your  cause  and  the  charm  of 
your  entreaties  would  move  a  heart  of  flint !  Present  my 
tender  respects  to  your  sister.  ...  I  i^ersuade  myself 
that  she  will  continue  her  tender  care  of  her  sweet  little 
godson  and  that  you  will  cover  him  with  kisses  from 
me.     .     .     . 

Mr.  Jefferson  carried  out  Paul  Jones's  wishes, 
and  during  the  remainder  of  his  term  as  American 
Minister  in  France,  which  included  the  greater  part 
of  Jones's  service  as  an  admiral  in  the  Russian 
Navy,  he  gave  to  Aimee  the  most  assiduous  care, 
protection,  and  counsel,  employing  her  frequently 
to  aid  him  in  obtaining  information  for  which  she 
had  many  valuable  facilities  and  giving  her  the  full 
benefit  of  his  personal  influence  at  Court. 

The  "  sister "  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  letter 
was  Aimee's  stepsister,  daughter  of  M.  de  Telison 
by  his  former  marriage,  and  she  was  some  years 
older  than  Aimee.  This  stepsister  was  then  the 
wife  of  an  officer  of  marine  artillery  in  the  French 
Navy,  the  Chevalier  de  Thouvenot. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  a  possible  mys- 

320 


AIMEE    DE    TELISON 

tery  as  to  the  *'  little  g-odson  "  mentioned  in  such 
affectionate  terms  at  the  conclusion  of  the  letter. 
The  inquiry  might  be  offered,  "  Who  were  the  par- 
ents of  Madame  de  Thouvenot's  '  little  godson  ?  '  " 

In  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe 
an  historical  novel  was  published  in  which  Paul 
Jones  figures  as  "  the  Chevalier  de  Joignes  "  and 
Aimee  de  Telison  as  "  la  Marquise  de  Bonneval " — 
the  nora  de  plume,  it  will  be  recalled,  given  by  Louis 
XV.  to  Aimee's  mother.  The  anonymous  author  of 
this  novel  says  in  his  prologue  introducing  Paul 
Jones  and  Aimee  de  Telison  as  characters  in  the  ro- 
mance, that  it  was  their  child  and  the  fruit  of  a  se- 
cret marriage.  But  we  can  find  nothing  to  corrobo- 
rate that  version,  and  nowhere  else  in  any  papers  of 
Jones  or  Aimee  extant  can  be  found  the  slightest 
reference  to  such  a  child.  We  therefore  think  it 
perfectly  safe  to  assume  that  if  Paul  Jones  had  had 
a  son  by  Aimee  de  Telison,  his  voluminous  corre- 
spondence, either  public  or  private,  would  have 
contained,  somewhere,  some  other  reference  to  the 
fact ;  because  he  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  neg- 
lect his  offspring,  no  matter  what  the  cii'cumstances 
might  be. 

In  the  "Anecdotes  of  the  Court  of  Louis  XVI." 
Aimee  de  Telison  is  described  (about  1784)  as 
"petite,  extremely  vivacious,  of  most  charming 
temper,  and  possessed  of  all  the  polite  accomplish- 
ments. Her  features  are  a  softened  and  refined  im- 
age of  the  late  King,  her  father ;  her  eyes  are  large, 
dark,  and  lustrous,  and  her  hair,  which  is  of  great 
length  and  profusion,  is  a  deep  auburn,  often  in 
bright  light  having  the  hue  of  red  gold.  Her  com- 
VoL.  I.— 31  321 


PAUL   JONES 

plexion  is  the  perfection  of  pink  and  white,  and, 
though  in  her  twenty-sixth  year,  she  passes  every- 
where for  a  young-  girl  not  twenty.  She  talks  and 
writes  with  grace  and  wit,  speaks  the  English  and 
Spanish  languages  fluently,  and  is  admitted  by  all 
to  be  the  most  finished  performer  on  the  guitar  in 
Court  circles.  She  enjoys  the  protection  of  the  most 
pov/erful  ladies,  and  is  consequently  in  request  to 
aid  in  the  most  important /e^es,  receptions,  and  balls, 
and  in  the  most  exclusive  private  theatricals. 
Though  without  fortune,  she  has  ever  commanded 
the  attentions  of  the  most  distinguished  men ;  but 
has  never  encouraged  anyone  except  the  famous 
Chevalier  Paul  Jones,  Commodore  of  the  American 
Navy,  and,  next  to  him,  she  most  affects  the  society 
of  the  great  and  learned  Dr.  Franklin,  by  whom  she 
is  most  delicately  esteemed." 

We  are  indebted  to  the  same  authority,  about  the 
same  time,  for  the  best  personal  description  extant 
of  Paul  Jones.  The  date  is  in  the  winter  of  1783-84, 
when  Jones  was  beginning  his  operations,  as  Special 
Commissioner  of  the  United  States,  to  collect  prize- 
moneys  due  to  American  sailors  in  France,  Holland, 
and  Denmark.    He  is  described  as 

A  man  of  about  thirty-eight  years  ;  five  feet  seven  inches 
tall ;  slender  in  build  ;  of  exquisitely  symmetrical  form,  with 
noticeably  perfect  development  of  limbs.  His  features  are 
delicately  moulded,  of  classical  cast,  clear-cut  and,  when  ani- 
mated, mobile  and  expressive  in  the  last  degree,  but,  when 
in  repose,  sedate  almost  to  melancholy.  His  hair  and  eye- 
brows are  black,  and  his  eyes  are  large,  brilliant,  piercing, 
and  of  a  peculiar  dark-gray  tint  that  at  once  changes  to  lus- 
trous black  when  he  becomes  earnest  or  animated.     His  eyes 


AIMEE   DE   TELISON 

are  in  fact  his  most  remarkable  feature,  and  are  the  first  to 
attract  the  attention  of  those  whose  good — or  ill — fortune 
it  may  be  to  come  in  contact  with  him.  They  betray  un- 
mistakable evidences  of  a  subtle  nature,  intense  with  pas- 
sion, surcharged  with  ambition,  and  capable  of  the  widest 
extremes  of  sentiment  and  action.  His  complexion  is 
swarthy,  almost  like  that  of  a  Moor,  though  this  is  doubt- 
less much  due  to  his  having  spent  the  best  part  of  his  life 
from  early  boyhood  till  near  the  age  of  thirty  at  sea  in  trop- 
ical voyages,  to  the  West  and  the  East  Indies. 

He  is  master  of  the  arts  of  dress  and  personal  adorn- 
ment, and  it  is  a  common  remark  that,  notwithstanding 
the  comparative  frugality  of  his  means,  he  never  fails  to  be 
the  best  dressed  man  at  any  dinner  or  fete  he  may  honor  by 
attending.  His  manners  are  in  comport  with  his  make- 
up. His  bearing  is  that  of  complete  ease,  perfect  aplomb, 
and  also  martial  to  the  last  degree ;  but  he  has  a  supple 
grace  of  motion  and  an  agile  facility  of  gait  and  gesture 
that  relieve  his  presence  of  all  suspicion  of  affectation  or 
stiffness. 

To  all  these  charms  of  person  and  graces  of  manner  he 
adds  the  power  of  conversation,  a  store  of  rare  and  original 
anecdote,  and  an  apparently  inexhaustible  fund  of  ready, 
pointed  wit,  always  apropos  and  always  pleasing  except  on 
the  infrequent  occasions  when  he  chooses  to  turn  it  to  the 
uses  of  sarcasm  and  satire.  On  such  occasions  his  keen 
tongue  is  without  pity,  and,  as  all  know  that  a  swift  and 
terrible  hand  lurks  close  behind  the  reckless  tongue,  it  is 
always  the  study  of  those  in  his  society  to  avoid  rousing 
the  ferocious  nature  so  thinly,  albeit  so  sleekly,  veneered 
by  gentle  manners  and  seductive  speech. 

Next  to  the  magic  of  his  eyes  is  the  charm  of  his  voice, 
which  no  one  can  ever  forget,  man  or  woman,  who  has 
heard  it.  It  is  surely  the  most  musical  and  perfectly  mod- 
ulated voice  ever  heard,  and  it  is  equally  resistless  in  each 
of  the  three  languages  he  speaks — English,  French,  and 

Spanish. 

323 


PAUL   JONES 

It  is  diflBcult,  when  one  sees  the  Chevalier  Paul  Jones  in 
the  affairs  of  society  or  hears  his  discourse  at  dinner  table 
or  in  salon,  to  believe  that  this  is  one  and  the  same  person 
as  the  ruthless  sea-fighter  ;  hero  of  the  most  desperate 
battles  ever  fought  on  the  ocean,  and,  for  the  first  time  in 
history,  the  conqueror  of  those  who  had  conquered  the  sea  ! 

In  all  his  personal  habits  he  is  moderate  ;  not  given  to 
excesses  of  any  kind,  either  of  food  or  of  drink,  but  always 
temperate,  careful,  and  under  the  most  perfect  self-com- 
mand. He  is  reputed  to  be  as  bold  and  successful  in  the 
affairs  of  speculation  as  in  those  of  love  and  war,  and  most  of 
his  ready  resources  are  said  to  be  derived  from  that  source. 
His  connections  in  the  world  of  finance  are  of  the  highest, 
and  his  advice  is  much  sought  after  in  regard  to  speculative 
ventures.  For  example,  being  in  the  United  States  when 
peace  was  declared,  and  knoAving  the  scarcity  of  illuminat- 
ing oils  in  France  and  the  Netherlands,  due  to  the  stoppage 
of  the  fisheries  by  the  war,  and  also  knowing  of  large  quan- 
tities of  that  commodity  in  store  in  America,  he  arranged 
large  shipments  both  to  Nantes  and  Amsterdam,  with  the 
support  of  certain  French  and  Dutch  merchants,  and  it  is 
said  that  his  share  in  the  profits  has  amounted  to  £7,500 
or  £8,000. 

Though  the  relations  of  Paul  Jones  and  Aimee  de 
Telison  existed  from  1778  until  the  death  of  Jones, 
in  1792,  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  and  though  in 
consequence  of  frequent  intervals  of  separation  due 
to  the  incidents  of  Jones's  official  career,  their  corre- 
spondence was  voluminous,  but  little  of  it  has  been 
preserved.  About  a  dozen  of  her  letters  to  him 
were  found  among  his  private  papers,  after  his 
death,  by  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  Aimee  allowed 
Capelle  to  publish  a  few  of  Jones's  letters  to  her 
in  the  French  Collection  of  1799.    All  the  letters  of 


AIMEE   DE   TELISON 

Paul  Jones  to  Aimee  extant  are  addressed  to  her 
as  "My  Dear  Madame  "  except  one  or  two  in  which 
he  uses  her  middle  name,  "Adele."  They  are  all 
serious  letters,  mostly  about  public  affairs  or  social 
matters  of  interest  to  both.  But  they  are  not  in 
any  degree  sentimental  or  amatory,  nor  do  they 
contain  expressions  that  might  be  construed  to 
mean  anything  but  a  platonic  relation. 

Capelle,  whose  book  was  printed  in  1799,  refers  to 
her  as  having  furnished  to  him  much  valuable  data, 
including  copies  of  Jones's  correspondence  with 
Prince  Potemkin,  Marshal  Suwarrow,  the  Count  de 
Segur,  and  two  letters  from  the  Empress  Catharine. 
Capelle  speaks  of  Aimee  as  being  employed  at  that 
time  in  the  capacity  of  a  teacher  of  English  in  a 
seminary  at  St.  Germain  (probably  that  of  Madame 
Campan).  She  owed  her  knowledge  of  the  English 
language  to  Jones,  who  had  not  only  taught  her 
himself  but  had  employed  an  accomplished  Eng- 
lish lady  who  lived  in  Paris  during  the  American 
war — Miss  Edes-Herbert,  previously  mentioned — ^to 
instruct  her  also. 

Mile,  de  Telison  was  of  great  assistance  to  Jones 
when  he  was  in  France  on  official  business,  act- 
ing as  his  confidential  secretary,  helping  to  write 
his  voluminous  correspondence,  particularly  dur- 
ing his  operations  to  collect  prize-money  in  1784, 
1785,  and  1786,  and  transcribing  his  journals  and 
other  historical  papers.  She  was,  beyond  question, 
a  woman  of  great  intelligence  as  well  as  amiability. 
One  of  the  last  acts  of  Paul  Jones  a  short  time  be- 
fore making  his  will,  July  18,  1792,  was  to  give  to 
her  a  modest  little  house  in  the  Eue  Vivienne,  and  to 

325 


PAUL   JONES 

settle  upon  her  an  annuity.  But  it  is  probable  that 
the  annuity  was  swept  away  in  the  general  wreck 
of  the  Revolution.  Judging"  from  the  value  of  the 
property  scheduled  by  Gouverneur  Morris  to  ac- 
company Jones's  will,  it  would  appear  that,  before 
making  the  will,  he  had  given  to  Aimee  de  Teli- 
son  about  one-third  of  his  possessions  available  at 
that  time. 

While  Barere  was  employed  as  editor  of  Napole- 
on's official  organ,  under  both  Consulate  and  Em- 
pire, he  availed  himself  of  the  ability  and  equip- 
ment of  Aimee  de  Telison  as  translator  into  French 
of  articles  that  from  time  to  time  appeared  in  the 
English  papers,  which  Napoleon  desired  to  lay  be- 
fore the  reading  public  of  France.  In  this  way  she 
established  a  status  of  her  own,  to  such  an  extent 
that,  after  Napoleon  became  Emperor,  she  was  em- 
ployed by  the  Empress  Josephine  to  instruct  the 
young  ladies  of  her  suite  in  the  English  language 
and  also  to  give  them  discourses  upon  the  history 
of  the  American  War  of  1775-83  and  the  Court  of 
Louis  XVI.  In  this  and  other  capacities  Aimee  de 
Telison  maintained  a  prominent  and  respected  place 
in  the  upper  circles  of  French  society  until  the  di- 
vorce of  Josephine  and  the  advent  of  Maria  Louisa, 
after  which  no  trace  of  her  career  seems  to  be  extant. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  departed  widely  from  the 
chronological  plan  of  the  work  as  a  whole,  the  pur- 
pose being  to  separate  as  much  as  practicable  the 
purely  personal  from  the  public  and  official  history 
of  Paul  Jones.  Earlier  biographers  of  the  Commo- 
dore dififer  in  their  estimates  of  the  actual  relation 
between  him  and  Aimee  de  Telison.     One  thing  is 

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AIMEE   DE    TELISON 

certain :  Tliere  is  not  a  line  or  a  word  in  any  of  their 
correspondence  authentically  preserved  to  indicate 
the  existence  of  that  kind  of  relation  commonly  de- 
scribed by  the  French  as  "  convenable."  On  this 
point,  however,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  introduce  a 
comment  by  the  editor  of  the  Edinburgh  biography, 
which  appears  in  the  appendix  to  the  second  edition 
of  that  work  (1833).     He  says : 

Those  who  would  argue  a  purely  platonic  character  for 
the  noted  relations  that  existed  fourteen  years  between 
Paul  Jones,  the  son  of  a  Scottish  peasant,  and  Aimee  Adele 
de  Telison,  the  natural  daughter  of  a  Bourbon  monarch, 
lay  infinite  stress  on  the  unblemished  purity  and  the  frank 
propriety  of  such  of  their  correspondence  as  has  been  handed 
down,  and  also  upon  the  total  absence  of  incriminating 
statements  or  even  insinuations  in  the  extant  writings  of 
contemporary  observers. 

As  for  the  first  of  these  arguments,  we  think  they  give 
color  to  rather  than  take  color  from  the  theory  of  intimacy. 
Paul  Jones  was  a  man  not  only  of  almost  phenomenal  cour- 
age, but  he  was  also  one  of  the  most  consummate  tact  and 
the  most  calculating  prudence  in  affairs  involving  either 
his  own  integrity  or  that  of  anyone  dear  to  him.  Proud  as 
he  may  have  been  of  his  mastery  over  the  heart  of  a  beauti- 
ful and  universally  recognized  daughter  of  a  King  of  France 
— no  matter  if  illicit,  he  would  have  been  the  last  man  in 
the  world  to  parade  the  fact  to  his  own  discredit  and  to  her 
shame. 

Loose  as  the  morals  of  the  Bourbon  courts  were,  Aim^e 
de  Telison  held  her  head  up  as  proudly  as  any  woman  of 
less  clouded  birthright  might  have  done.  She  was  the  pet 
of  such  women  as  the  Duchess  de  Chartres,  the  Countess  de 
Bourbon,  the  Princess  Lamballe,  the  Marquise  de  Marsan, 
Madame  de  Lafayette  and  a  host  of  others — social  leaders 
like  them  ;  and  she  even  enjoyed  the  sympathy  if  not  the 

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PAUL   JONES 

patronage  of  the  cold  and  prudish  Queen,  Marie  Antoinette 
herself.  But  little  knoAvledge  of  the  real  character  of  Paul 
Jones,  but  little  insight  into  the  alike  fierce  and  gentle 
chivalry  that  was  the  inspiration  of  all  his  conduct,  are 
needed  to  perceive  that  his  public  attentions  to  the  lovely 
woman  who  gave  herself  to  him  with  a  singleness  of  devo- 
tion seldom  seen,  would  naturally  have  been  of  the  most 
discreet  character  and  studiously  planned  to  mask  any  re- 
lation, or  even  the  semblance  of  one,  equivocal.  Letter- 
writing  was  a  dangerous  pastime  in  France  in  those  days. 
No  correspondence  was  secure  from  espionage.  No  one 
could  be  sure  that  a  posted  letter  would  not  be  intercepted 
or  tampered  with.  For  these  reasons  we  think  that  the 
lofty  decorum  and  careful  propriety  of  the  Commodore's 
correspondence  with  his  morganatic  princess  of  the  house 
of  Bourbon  may  be  viewed  as  arguments  for  or  against 
either  theory  of  their  actual  relations,  at  the  will  of  the 
disputant. 

As  for  the  absence  of  contemporaneous  animadversion, 
we  think  it  may  be  concisely  accounted  for  by  the  knowl- 
edge, general  at  that  time,  of  the  Commodore's  tendency 
to  abrupt  and  often  not  altogether  harmless  methods  of  ad- 
justing personal  affairs,  either  on  his  own  behalf  or  on 
that  of  those  who  might  claim  his  protection  or  enjoy  his 
affection. 

The  anonymous  editor  of  this  second  edition  of 
the  Edinburgh  life  of  Paul  Jones,  it  has  been  said, 
was  Malcolm.  Be  that  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  the  foregoing  brief  review  must  have 
ialien  from  a  master-pen,  guided  by  a  subtle  brain. 


328 


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